


Bad Beginnings

by SalineCoelacanth



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU, Angst, Blood, Self-Harm, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21722542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalineCoelacanth/pseuds/SalineCoelacanth
Summary: For every happy ending, there's a bad ending.Each ninja has a separate timeline where they failed and turned to the dark side.This fic explains the origins for my Bad Endings AU I've been posting about on my Tumblr. Each chapter is a separate story for each of them, explaining how they came to the point where they are in the AU where they become evil. This also will only include the origin stories, nothing past that.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

Everything felt cold. It was all dark and cold. Zane had no idea where he was or what had happened to him. He tried his best to wake up, but his eyes wouldn’t open. He was stuck.  
Zane could hear faint voices speaking, but he couldn’t quite make out who was talking.  
“Master, he’s one of the ninja. He could be a useful host for you.”  
“I don’t want a host! I want MY body! I’ve been stuck using others for so long. All I want is the golden power, this ninja is useless to me.”  
“If I might interrupt, I feel like he could still be useful. After all, he’s a nindroid. We can always reprogram him.”  
Reprogram? Zane thought to himself. Everything went quiet. Zane attempted to listen for anything to tell him where he was, but couldn’t. He suddenly felt a large ZAP as his eyes shot awake. He took a couple deep breaths, looking around the room to take in his surroundings. The room was still relatively dark, but at least he could see. He was strapped down to a table and couldn’t move. He looked to his side and saw another nindroid staring at him.  
“You’re awake,” he said.  
“Cryptor,” Zane replied, “Where am I? What are you doing?”  
“Hush,” Cryptor demanded, “You’re trapped here.”  
“What are you planning on doing with me?” Zane asked harshly.  
Cryptor chuckled. “Well, the Overlord didn’t seem to enjoy our struggles of capturing you to use as a temporary body,” he explained, “But Pythor refused to just let you go after we went through the trouble of capturing you.”  
“My friends will find me,” Zane insisted.  
“How? They have no idea that you’re here.”  
“I know they will,” Zane replied, “They’ll figure out I’m gone and…” Zane attempted to think back to when he got captured, but was struggling to remember correctly.  
“Having troubles there?” Cryptor taunted, “You can’t remember what happened, did you?”  
“What did you do!?” Zane demanded.  
Cryptor laughed again. “Your friends betrayed you. They let you get captured.”  
“Do you really think I’m going to believe a lie like that?”  
“Call it a lie, but soon enough you’ll realize how little your friends matter.” Cryptor turned around, leaving the room.  
“Where are you going!? Get back here!” Zane yelled, but it was too late. Cryptor left the room and everything went completely dark once more. Everything was silent. Zane struggled to try and free himself, but was completely stuck. Suddenly, the room lit up and a massive voltage of electricity was sent towards Zane.  
“AGH!” Zane screamed. The electricity quickly stopped. Although it didn’t last long, the pain was severe. Zane took some heavy breaths before he slowly felt himself powering off.  
Zane didn’t know how long he was knocked out. When he did eventually wake up, he felt extremely weak. He realized he had multiple wires connected to his body. He was hooked up to the large computer. Pythor and Cryptor were both typing stuff on the computer.  
“What are you doing!?” Zane demanded.  
“Oh, you’re awake,” Pythor commented, “Did you sleep well?”  
“How long have I been out?”  
“It’s been a couple of days,” Cryptor replied, “You made it a lot easier on us.”  
Zane tried to get a glimpse of what was on the computer, but couldn’t make anything out. Another shock was sent down Zane’s body, causing him to wince slightly.  
Pythor grunted. “Why isn’t this working?”  
“What?” Zane asked.  
“The Overlord told us he should still have his powers,” Cryptor said, ignoring Zane’s question, “We just need to try harder.”  
“We’ve been trying for a week now, Cryptor!” Pythor yelled, “Are you sure the Overlord knows what he’s talking about?”  
A week? Zane thought, Has it… has it really been that long?  
“Remember what the Overlord told us,” Cryptor reminded, “The elemental powers come from inside.”  
“Inside you say?” Pythor slithered over to Zane. He attempted to open up Zane’s chest, but couldn’t figure out how. “How do you open up!?” he hissed.  
“I won’t let you inside my circuitry,” Zane replied, “You won’t be able to get me open that easily.”  
“Hmph. So be it,” Pythor turned around, nodding towards Cryptor.  
Cryptor let out a little chuckle. He pulled out a sword and slowly approached Zane. Zane stared at the nindroid, fear in his eyes. Cryptor got his sword ready. Zane flinched as he prepared for whatever Cryptor was planning. Cryptor stabbed his sword into Zane’s chest, tiny sparks flying off.  
“ACK!” Zane screamed in pain. He continued squirming and shouting as Cryptor jerked his sword around inside Zane’s chest, attempting to pry it open. He managed to find a loose spot, and moved his sword back, using it like a crowbar. A giant piece of metal jutted out of his chest. Cryptor grabbed it and wiggled it before tearing it out. He threw it off to the side, a CLANG noise sounding as it landed.  
Zane struggled to stay powered on through the pain. A couple wires got cut slightly when Cryptor jammed his sword in his chest. Some wires were also sticking out slightly.  
Cryptor poked at Zane’s heart, a tiny spark shocking his hand.  
“I see,” he replied, “This must be the key.”  
“What are you… going to… do to me?” Zane asked with a weak voice.  
Cryptor said nothing and instead grabbed another wire, plugging it directly into Zane’s heart. Zane flinched slightly.  
“Let’s try it now,” Cryptor pulled a lever on the computer.  
Zane felt another shock before everything went black again.  
______________________________________________  
Zane woke up once again. He opened his eyes much slower this time. He wasn’t sure what time it was. He felt like he never knew these things anymore.  
To his surprise, Cryptor actually released Zane.  
“You’re… releasing me?” Zane questioned.  
“Just to test something,” Cryptor said, “Do you see that target?”  
Zane looked over and saw there was indeed a target.  
“Shoot it,” Cryptor ordered.  
“What?” Zane questioned, “With what?”  
“Just shoot it,” Cryptor pulled out a sword, “Or else.”  
Zane stared at Cryptor and then back at the target. He held out his hand and closed his eyes. He suddenly felt his hands get colder. Zane opened his eyes, staring at the target. A blast of ice shot out of this hand, hitting the target. Zane stared at it in shock.  
Cryptor let out a laugh. “It worked!”  
“But how?” Zane questioned, staring at his hands, “I thought my powers were gone.”  
Cryptor placed a hand on Zane’s back. “You mean your Sensei never told you?” he asked, “You elemental masters always have your powers within you.”  
Zane blinked. “My… Sensei?”  
Cryptor stepped back slightly. He paused for a moment before he started laughing. “You forgot about Sensei Wu, haven’t you!?”  
“Sensei Wu… That name feels familiar…” Zane tried to think.  
Cryptor was still laughing. “Wait until I tell Pythor about this!” he said, “Messing with your power source must have affected your memory.”  
Zane kept thinking for a moment before gasping. “The ninja!” he remembered, “My friends! I can’t forget about them!”  
Cryptor slowly stopped laughing. “Your friends?” he questioned, “They can’t be very good friends if they still haven’t rescued you.”  
“They just haven’t found me yet!” Zane argued. He began to charge ice in his hands, ready to attack Cryptor.  
Thinking fast, Cryptor pulled out a device, pushing a button on it that shocked Zane.  
“AGH!” Zane yelled, kneeling onto the ground.  
While Zane was weak, Cryptor grabbed his arm, dragging him back to the table and strapping him down. He laughed again.  
“Why didn’t I think of this sooner? If you can’t remember your friends, you’ll be an asset to our army.”  
“You won’t get away with this!” Zane yelled.  
“Your hope makes me laugh,” Cryptor taunted, “You should really just give up now. It’ll make it much easier for us.”  
______________________________________________  
It was probably a couple months later. Maybe more. Zane couldn’t tell anymore. He didn’t really care that much either. Time didn’t seem to matter anymore.  
Zane was finally allowed to move around on his own, although Cryptor was always nearby and Zane was forced to wear a vengstone ring around his wrist. He was also changed out of his normal, white ninja gi and was switched to a black and red one. Zane hated it but knew not to complain. The thing he hated most was how Cryptor specifically cut out a part of the chest, leaving Zane's wires exposed. They never fixed Zane when parts of him were broken. They didn't care and eventually Zane stopped caring too.  
“My friends will find me…” Zane whispered.  
“Oh really, which one?” Cryptor asked with a mocking tone.  
“I… K… Kai?” Zane tried to remember his friend's name. “Kai will save me.”  
“How sure are you that that’s his actual name?” Cryptor continued to mock, “I don’t remember anyone named Kai.”  
Zane shook his head. “I remember Kai!” Zane yelled, “I remember him!”  
Cryptor pointed his sword at Zane’s face.  
“Be careful with your tone,” Cryptor warned, “You already have a chunk of metal gone from your chest. You wouldn’t want to lose anything else, would you?”  
Zane glared at Cryptor, his red eyes seeming to mirror his own, but said nothing. He turned and started to walk away, but Cryptor continued to follow.  
“Now, tell me, who were your other friends?”  
Zane snapped his head towards Cryptor.  
“My friends will find me,” Zane kept insisting. He figured if he kept saying it, then he wouldn’t forget them.  
Cryptor chuckled. “You can’t remember the rest of them, can you?” he asked, “You hate to admit it, but our plan is working.”  
“AGH!” Zane yelled, aiming a punch for Cryptor. Cryptor easily dodged, moving his head out of the way. He quickly grabbed Zane’s arm, holding tight. He kicked Zane to the ground and quickly swung his sword at his cheek. I tiny chunk of metal fell off of Zane’s cheek, revealing some wires underneath. Zane quickly placed his hand over his cheek in pain. He glared back up at Cryptor, but before he could do anything, Cryptor punched Zane in his eye.  
“ACK!” Zane yelled, turning his face away. He turned back to Cryptor, his eye going completely black except for the slight crimson glow from his pupil.  
“I wouldn’t try something like that again,” Cryptor warned.  
Cryptor held out a hand. Zane begrudgingly took it, standing up. He continued to glare at Cryptor.  
“Alright, c’mon,” Cryptor ordered, “It’s time for your daily check up.”  
Cryptor began walking to the computer room, but Zane stayed back for a while.  
My friends will find me, my friends will find me, Zane kept reminding himself. He turned around, following Cryptor to the main computer.  
“How’s the progress going?” Pythor asked.  
Cryptor was typing on the computer. “I’ve almost gotten rid of his memories of the ninja,” Cryptor informed, “He’s so stubborn about it, though. He keeps trying to hold on to them for some reason.”  
Zane sat quietly. He was completely conscious during all of this and Cryptor and Pythor knew this. But Zane had learned that asking questions got him nowhere. And if he asked the wrong question, he had to deal with a night of high voltage.  
“There must be an easier way,” Pythor said, “Doesn’t he have anything that can just erase his memory all at once?”  
“He does have a memory switch,” Cryptor said, “But with all the damage done to his chest, we can’t get to it without risking major damage. And at this point, the Overlord wants to keep him around. He said he wanted to see the looks on the ninja’s faces when they see what their friend has become.”  
Pythor rolled his eyes. “So, he’s just making it much more difficult for us?”  
“If you want to tell the Overlord how you disagree with his motives, be my guest. But just realize what your risking.”  
The Overlord… Zane thought, All they care about is pleasing the Overlord. That’s all I am at this point. A little project the Overlord wants finished.  
Zane’s thoughts were interrupted as a jolt of electricity shocked through his head. Zane could feel something leaving. A face, maybe a name? Zane’s memories were getting slowly deleted so often that he couldn’t even tell the difference between a name or a face. He kept trying to hold onto the little things, but even those were becoming difficult to hold on to. He remembered… someone. He remembered them flirting with Zane, but he didn’t understand. Some others found it funny, but Zane still didn’t understand. Zane tried his best to focus on the person. Red. He could see red. It was only red. Another shock went through. Zane struggled to hold onto red. That color felt important to him somehow. The computer shut off.  
“Ugh,” Cryptor complained, “That’s all we can get for now.” He turned towards Zane. “So, who’s gonna come save you?”  
Zane just sat quietly.  
“Answer me!” Cryptor yelled.  
“My…” Zane paused, “My friends will find me…”  
“Who are your friends?”  
Zane shook his head. “My friends will find me…” he whispered.  
“Why don’t we give him some space,” Pythor suggested, “He’s not going to hurt anyone. And besides, I think he likes the feeling of loneliness.”  
Pythor and Cryptor both chuckled as they left the room. Zane sat quietly, staring down at the ground with a blank expression.  
Red… Why is that color so important to me? Zane thought. Why?  
Zane finally stood up. He walked over to the computer screen and turned it on. His memories were still being deleted. There wasn’t much left to salvage, so he didn’t bother trying to restore them. Zane pulled up an image. He saw the image of a smiling nindroid, surrounded by three other ninja. Zane studied all of their faces but couldn’t recognize any of them. He did recognize the nindroid to be himself. He stared at how happy he looked. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of it. Zane let out a couple deep breaths. He felt his body quiver slightly. His breathing became more sporadic. He wrapped his arms around his torso, leaning over the computer desk. Tears managed to form in his eyes, slowly streaming down his face. He looked up at the picture again. His face quickly shifted from sadness to anger. He readied a punch, slamming his fist into the computer screen, completely shattering the image of the happy nindroid.  
Zane stared angrily at his reflection. He looked at the anger in his eyes, and quickly started to become fearful.  
“What are you doing, Zane!?” he asked, panicked, “I can’t… I can’t be what they want me to be…” Zane put his hand on half of his face, digging his fingers into his synthetic skin. “I can’t do this anymore!” His fingers began to dig deeper into his skin. He moved his hand aggressively down his face, creating a large scratch over his broken eye. Zane stared at himself again. Small tears formed in his eyes once more. Zane slowly started to break down once again. Frustrated with himself, he grabbed a shard of glass that had fallen off of the computer screen. He took one last look at himself, the glass shard aimed for his own face. Closing his eyes, Zane quickly sliced down the middle of his face. The thin piece of metal fell to the ground. Zane leaned over the desk for a while. He looked up at his face once more. It was completely split down the middle, the wires and metal plates being fully exposed on the side. The other side of his face was still intact except for the large gash in his cheek. Zane lowered his head once more. “I’m sorry…” he whispered.  
______________________________________________  
“Shoot the target,” Cryptor ordered.  
Zane continued to try and shoot the target, but kept missing just barely.  
“Why does he keep missing!?” Pythor asked angrily, “He’s a nindroid! He should have near perfect aim!”  
“Perhaps he messed up his aim when he messed up his face,” Cryptor said, clearly trying to remind Zane of what he did when he was unsupervised. Zane glanced at Cryptor but said nothing.  
“How is he supposed to be useful when he can’t even hit a simple target?” Pythor questioned, “If the Overlord realizes he’s useless now, he’ll-”  
“Would you calm down!?” Cryptor ordered, “He just needs a new weapon. He can still be useful to us.”  
“You’re sure?”  
“Listen, we’ve already took all this time to erase his memories of the ninja, we might as well do something with him.”  
Zane didn’t understand what they meant by the ninja. All Zane knew was living here. He remembered all the pain he had to suffer, but they kept acting like Zane knew the ninja even though he had never met them before. Zane didn’t question it. He assumed it wasn’t something they would tell him anyway.  
“That reminds me,” Cryptor said, “Zane, what was your objective again?”  
“Destroy the ninja,” Zane replied.  
“And who’s going to come and find you?”  
“Nobody.”  
“See?” Cryptor said, “He’s on our side. We have complete control over him.”  
“You have a point,” Pythor replied, “Perhaps it’s about time we take him out into battle.”  
Cryptor nodded. “But hold on, I still needed to get his new weapon.”  
Zane stood completely still as Cryptor left the room. Pythor stayed behind to keep a close eye on Zane. After the incident with his face, he wasn’t allowed to be alone for long periods of time.  
Cryptor wasn’t gone for very long. He came back holding a light blue whip. It was neatly wrapped around the handle. He handed it to Zane.  
“Here,” he said, “I believe this should be useful.”  
Zane grabbed the whip. He uncurled it, flicking his wrist to create a SNAP sound. Tiny bolts of electricity sparked off of the whip, causing Zane’s eyes to widen slightly. He looked over at Cryptor confused.  
“Why not just give me a sword like all the other nindroids?” he questioned.  
“Well, you’re different, Zane,” Cryptor replied, “You deserve something a little special.”  
Zane was a little bit surprised. This was by far the kindest thing Cryptor had ever done to him and he didn’t understand why. Zane shook his head.  
“Thank you, General Cryptor,” he said.  
Cryptor laughed. “Now, why don’t we go out and show the ninja what you can do?”  
______________________________________________  
“Maybe Borg Tower?”  
“We’ve already checked there five times, Jay!” Kai snapped, “He isn’t there!”  
Jay stepped back slightly. He looked away before leaving the room quietly. Cole had left a while ago, not wanting to deal with Kai being unreasonable about Zane’s disappearance.  
“Kai, he’s been gone for months,” Lloyd said, “Maybe… maybe he’s just gone…”  
“No! He’s not gone!” Kai insisted, “We just haven’t been able to find the Overlord’s hideout!”  
“Kai, we’ve searched everywhere!” Lloyd tried to explain, “Zane… Zane’s gone…”  
Kai angrily stormed off. Lloyd was about to go after him, but Nya stopped him.  
“Just give him space,” she said.  
Lloyd let out a sigh. “What am I doing wrong? I’m supposed to be the leader but I feel like we’re only falling apart.”  
“You’re doing the best you can,” Nya assured, “None of us could’ve known Zane would’ve gotten kidnapped.”  
“But I just feel like we could’ve done more!” Lloyd argued, “But they just… took him. I just can’t help but to blame myself.”  
“It’s not your fault,” Nya reassured, “The only people we can blame are Cryptor and his nindroids.”  
Lloyd turned away quietly. Suddenly, Jay ran back into the room.  
“Nindroids!” he announced, “They’ve been spotted at Borg Tower!”  
“What!?” Lloyd asked.  
“Lloyd, you need to get out of here,” Nya ordered, “We’ll handle the nindroids.”  
Lloyd nodded, running off. Nya ran into the other room to get Kai.  
“Kai, we need you!” she said, “There’s nindroids at Borg Tower!”  
Kai quickly stood up. “Say no more,” he said, grabbing his technoblade.  
The three ninja all ran outside, preparing for the attack. Nya went off to get her Samurai X armor. The ninja got in their vehicles and sped down to Borg Tower, ready to fight the nindroids.  
They surprisingly got into the city easily. They had an even easier time getting into the tower.  
“Does anyone else feel like this is a little easy?” Cole asked.  
“Yeah, it’s almost as if they wanted us to come,” Jay replied.  
“Just keep your eyes peeled,” Kai said, “We don’t know what they’re planning.”  
The ninja arrived at the top floor. Cryptor and Pythor both stood in the middle of the room. The ninja looked around, confused.  
“Is this some sort of joke?” Kai asked, “Where’s your army?”  
Cryptor and Pythor looked at each other before laughing.  
“What’s so funny?” Jay asked.  
Suddenly, the computer powered on, the Overlord appearing on the screen and laughing with the others.  
“Foolish ninja,” the Overlord taunted, “This wasn’t meant to be a real battle. I just wanted to see the look of despair on your face when you see him.”  
“See who?” Jay asked, “AGH!” Jay shouted as he got kicked in the back, falling over.  
“Jay!” Kai yelled. He and Cole turned around to see who attacked their friend, their faces turning completely shocked as they saw their old friends standing behind them.  
Zane stared at the two standing ninja, glaring at them with his piercing red eyes.  
“Z-Zane!?” Kai questioned, his voice shaky, “Zane, what did they do to you!?”  
Zane pulled out his whip, quickly wrapping it around the red ninja, electrocuting him. Kai screamed in pain, kneeling onto the ground.  
“How do you know my name?” Zane questioned, his voice stern.  
“Zane…” Kai said weakly.  
Zane unwrapped the red ninja. Kai fell completely onto the ground. Zane stared down at him, his face completely wiped of any sympathy. He turned towards Cole.  
“Zane, you need to stop this!” Cole demanded, “You’re a ninja, Zane! One of us!”  
Zane held out his hand, shooting an icy blast at Cole, freezing him in place, only leaving his head exposed.  
“What the!?” Cole questioned.  
Kai sat up weakly. “He… he has his powers?”  
Jay slowly sat up as well. “How did he get his powers back?”  
“Zane, quickly, grab their technoblades!” Cryptor ordered.  
Zane nodded. He walked over to each of the ninja, taking the technoblades from them. Kai had held onto Zane’s technoblade, just in case they had gotten a moment to use them on the Overlord.  
Holding all of the technoblades, Zane walked over to Cryptor and Pythor.  
“Good work, Zane,” the Overlord said, “I knew there was a good reason I kept you around.”  
Zane snapped his head towards the computer screen.  
“You should’ve gotten rid of me a long time ago,” Zane responded.  
Before anyone could react, Zane used the technoblades and smacked them onto the computer, aiming them for the hard drive.  
“Zane, what are you doing!?” Cryptor asked angrily.  
Zane said nothing, continuing to use the technoblades. They all glowed, the hard drive becoming surrounded with the light.  
“WHAT!? NO! STOP HIM!” the Overlord demanded.  
Cryptor ran towards Zane, but he dodged, pulling out his whip and using it to electrocute the nindroid, overloading him until he powered off.  
The ninja all watched, their faces full of shock.  
Zane watched as Cryptor’s lifeless body fell to the ground before turning towards Pythor. He started to slowly approach the snake.  
“PYTHOR, DO SOMETHING!” the Overlord ordered.  
“What do you want me to do!?” Pythor snapped, “I’m no match for him in combat!”  
Zane stomped on Pythor’s tail, causing the anacondrai to shriek in pain. Zane grabbed his neck and slammed his head onto the ground. He then used his ice powers to freeze him completely, leaving him stuck onto the ground.  
“NO!” the Overlord screamed one last time before the computer shut off, rebooting and finally deleting the Overlord virus once and for all.  
“Zane!” Kai cheered, slowly standing up, “You did it!”  
He walked over to Zane, ready to give his lost friend a hug. But Zane quickly grabbed his wrist, turning him around and slammed him onto the ground.  
“ACK!” Kai yelled.  
“Zane, what are you doing!?” Jay asked, standing up.  
Zane looked over at Jay, still holding Kai down.  
“You think you can try to take me out when my back is turned?” Zane questioned.  
“What?” Jay asked, “Zane, we’re your friends.”  
“Zane, please, it’s me, Kai!” Kai tried to remind him.  
Zane looked back down at Kai, looking at his face.  
“The red ninja,” he said, “I have no records of your name. You’re just the red ninja, master of fire.”  
“He… doesn’t remember us,” Cole said quietly, still stuck inside a block of ice.  
“Hmph,” Zane replied, “Kai. I’ll remember that name. For now at least.”  
He stood up, picking up Kai by his wrist. He glared down at him.  
“Get out of my sight,” he ordered. He threw Kai at Cole, causing the ice to shatter, freeing the black ninja. “Don’t think Ninjago is safe just because the Overlord is gone,” Zane warned, “He may be gone, but now there’s a new threat you’ll have to deal with.”  
Kai was on the ground, struggling to stand back up, the other ninja helping him. He looked over at Zane, sadness in his eyes.  
“Zane…” he whispered.  
Zane stood quietly, glaring at the ninja. He turned around towards the large glass window. He punched the window and jumped out onto an escape plane the others had in case they needed a quick escape. Kai quickly scrambled onto his feet, running over to the window. Cole and Jay ran over to him, grabbing him before he could try going after Zane.  
“ZANE!” Kai screamed, tears in his eyes.  
“Zane’s gone, Kai!” Cole yelled. He sighed. “He’s gone…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zane's backstory was the first one because he was the first one in the timeline (minus Nya I guess but I didn't write her backstory because she isn't really part of the main group)  
> I had a lot of fun with this chapter (which I actually wrote a while ago) and I always feel emotions when rereading it. I hope you guys are excited about this, I've been waiting to finally post the origins of this AU for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

Lloyd and Skylor both watched Kai, fear on their faces. Kai had already used the staff of elements to take out all on Chen’s henchmen, including Chen himself. 

“Chen was right,” Kai said, “This staff is awesome!”

“Ok Kai, you can put the staff down now,” Lloyd said.

Kai snapped his head towards Lloyd.

“Don’t touch my staff!” he yelled.

Lloyd stepped back in shock. Kai’s eyes had turned a bright red.

“Kai, the staff is corrupting you!” Lloyd tried to reason with him, “You need to smash it!”

“ **SHUT UP** !” Kai ordered, his voice was starting to sound creepier, “You always had all the power. Well now it’s MY turn!” The staff began to glow a bright green.

“Kai, don’t do this!” Lloyd pleaded, “This isn’t like you!”

Kai shook his head, his eyes turning back to their natural brown color. He stared at Lloyd, fear in his eyes.

“Y-you’re right,” Kai said, “What am I even saying? Urgh-” Kai recoiled slightly as his eyes turned red again. “Nothing that I don’t already feel!”

“Kai, please, you’re scaring me,” Lloyd cried softly.

“Kai…” Skylor said quietly, struggling to watch her new friend become corrupted.

Kai’s body started to become shaky as he clung onto the staff.

“I-I can’t… control it!” Kai mumbled.

“Fight it Kai!” Lloyd urged, “Please, I know you can do it!”

“I… I…” Kai struggled to keep control of himself, “ **I don’t want to control it.** ” Kai glared at Lloyd, the staff began to glow green again, “ **I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE GREEN NINJA!** ”

“No, Kai, don’t!” Lloyd shouted.

Kai aimed the staff at Lloyd, shooting a massive blast of green energy at him. Skylor shielded her eyes as Lloyd was blasted against the wall. The energy blast faded, leaving a cloud of dust that filled the room.

Skylor coughed as the dust filled the air. “Lloyd?” she asked. She looked over at Lloyd who was slowly pushing himself off of the ground, coughing as well.

“I’m… fine…” Lloyd responded weakly.

“Lloyd…” Kai said quietly, staring at Lloyd as he struggled to sit up. “What have I done?”

Kai’s entire body started to shake. He wanted so badly to let go of the staff, but something kept him holding on. He couldn’t find the strength to let go. It was as if the staff was stuck to his hand. Kai sniffled a bit, sounding like he was about to start crying, but his sniffles slowly morphed into laughter.

“Heh heh,” he chuckled softly, “Ha ha ha, HA HA HA HA!” Kai began laughing maniacally. 

“Kai?” Skylor asked softly.

“Ha ha,” Kai’s laughter calmed down a bit, “You survived?” he asked with a smile on his face, “Good.  **Cause I’m not done with you yet.** ”

“Kai, please,” Lloyd was cut off as he coughed again.

“ **QUIET!** ” Kai ordered, pointing his staff at Lloyd again, “I don’t want to hear another word from you.”

“Kai you need to stop!” Skylor yelled.

“Oh, are jealous, Skylor?” Kai taunted, “Jealous that  _ I  _ have all the elements now?”

“Kai, please, I know this isn’t like you,” Skylor tried to reason with him, “What would the others think about this?”

“Like I care about the others,” Kai rolled his eyes, “All they did was get in my way!”

“Kai, don’t you remember the reason we came here in the first place?” Lloyd asked, “We came to save Za-”

“ **I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!** ” Kai cut him off, his staff glowing again, “I don’t care why we came here. I have this staff and that’s all that matters!”

“So, what are you planning on doing you that staff?” Skylor questioned, “What are you going to do with us?”

Kai chuckled. “You know, that’s a good question,” Kai replied. He lifted the staff in the air. Suddenly, Lloyd and Skylor felt their bodies levitate off of the ground.

“WHAH!” Skylor yelled.

“What’s he doing!?” Lloyd asked.

“Kai! Kai please!” Skylor pleaded.

“Hmm… you guys are gonna need a place to stay, huh,” Kai said, ignoring the two of them. He turned around, throwing the Lloyd and Skylor at the wall. 

“ACK!” Skylor yelled as she landed. Before she could stand up, she became surrounded by rock spikes, forming a cage around her. She looked over at Lloyd who was also trapped in a rock cage.

“There we go,” Kai commented, “Now, this room is almost complete.”

Kai used the staff to create a pedestal of earth, making a staircase leading to the top. He then moved Chen’s throne to the top, making small rocks to keep the throne in place. Kai then levitated himself up to the throne, sitting in it with his legs hanging over the armrest.

Kai let out another laugh. “I could get used to this.”

“Well don’t,” Skylor replied, “The other elemental masters are planning on showing up. Don’t forget about that!”

“The elemental masters!?” Kai laughed, “What are they gonna do? I have the staff of elements and they have  **NOTHING!** ”

“Well we’ll get out of here and destroy your staff!” Skylor argued, “Right, Lloyd?” She turned to Lloyd, expecting him to agree, but saw him facing away, holding his knees. “Lloyd?”

Kai started laughing again. “Aww, is he sad because I finally beat him?”

“You know exactly why he’s upset,” Skylor responded angrily.

“I… I couldn’t stop him…” Lloyd whispered.

“There’s still time, Lloyd!” Skylor argued, “We just need to get out of here and get that staff away from him!”

“How!?” Lloyd snapped, turning towards Skylor, “He has the staff of elements, Skylor. He’s too powerful.”

“We got the staff from my father,” Skylor reminded, “We can get it from Kai.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you should listen to Lloyd,” Kai interrupted them, “You two are trapped like little animals! You’ll never be able to escape!” Kai started laughing again.

“Well I’m not giving up…” Skylor replied.

______________________________________________

Months went by. Kai continued living on the island with his staff, finding any of Chen’s remaining followers and forcing them to work for him. Kai eventually got bored of Skylor and her constant plans of escaping and “saving” him. But Kai decided to keep Lloyd around. He wasn’t done hurting him, but eventually got sick of seeing the green ninja all the time and moved him to a separate cell, only visiting when he really wanted to get his anger out.

Kai also got multiple visits from some of the elemental masters who tried to escape. Each of them were full of shock after finding out Kai was in charge, but none of them were able to tell the others. Kai made sure they were given major punishments for trying to escape his island. 

One day, Kai was extremely bored and decided to wander around the island, going through some of Chen’s old belongings.

“Ugh, there has to be SOMETHING not boring around here!” Kai complained, “Torturing people is fun, but I want something a little different.”

Kai wandered around the room, using his staff to throw things all over the place. He was about to leave when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s this?” he asked, walking up to what looked like an ancient book. Kai gasped. “A spell book!” he cheered, “Now THAT’S exciting!”

Kai quickly flipped through the pages, hoping to find something fun, but quickly became disappointed.

“What the heck!?” Kai yelled, “All of these spells are so boring!” 

Kai flipped the pages one more time until he saw something more interesting.

“Huh?” Kai questioned, “A mutation spell?” Kai looked at the drawings on the page, showing people morphing, parts of their bodies’ changing. “Ooo! I like this one!” 

Kai ripped the page out of the book and left the room. He read the instructions as he walked back to his throne room.

“Wait, what!?” Kai questioned, “I need a piece of DNA from another creature!? Where am I supposed to find that!?” Kai thought for a moment until he remembered something. “That one creepy snake!” he realized, “I can be a snake!”

He quickly ran to the room he last remembered seeing that snake. He entered the room, staring at the piles of skeletons. Two poles sat in the room, broken chains laying next to them. Kai looked over at the snake who was sleeping quietly. Kai smiled, walking over to the snake.

The snake slowly opened their eyes, starting to hiss as Kai appoached. Before it could attack, Kai quickly shot an icy blast at their head, freezing them in place. He quickly plucked a scale off of the snake before walking away, heading back to the throne room.

“Alright,” Kai said, placing the scale on the ground, “Now I just have to put this scale into my DNA!” Kai laughed excitedly, “This’ll be so much fun!”

He levitated the scale in front of him. He closed his eyes, concentrating his power on the scale. It became surrounded by a purple smoke that filled the room. The smoked started to surround Kai, slowly turning into a deep red color.

Kai let out a laugh. “It’s working!” he cheered. “It’s- ACK!” Kai suddenly fell to the ground in pain, dropping his staff. His body started to shake, he dug his fingers into the ground. “What’s… happening?” Kai questioned, his eyes briefly turning brown. He felt a large surge of pain course through his body, his teeth slowly morphing into fangs. He felt his body become colder, causing him to shiver slightly. “AGH!” Kai screamed as his body continued feeling agony. He heard his clothes begin to rip slightly until a large, red snake tail sprouted out of Kai’s body. The smoke started to fade away, leaving Kai on the ground, breathing heavily as the pain started to fade. He stared at the ground, his narrow eyes full of fear and confusion. He slowly sat up, nearly falling over as he pushed himself up. He looked down at his hands and then at his new snake tail, moving it slightly. He stared at it in complete shock before closing his eyes.

“Ha ha,” he laughed quietly, “It worked!” he cheered, opening his bright red eyes. He turned to his side, grabbing his staff and standing up. He stumbled a bit, using his staff to lean on. He flinched slightly as he moved his body. He laughed again. “Just wait until Lloyd sees me!”

Lloyd sat quietly in his cell, chained to the wall. He stared at the ground, studying the tiny cracks in the ground in order to pass the time. He looked up as he heard the door open. As he was used to, he saw Kai, but his eyes widened when he saw him this time.

“It’s been a while, Lloyd,” Kai greeted.

“Kai, you…” Lloyd said, “You’re a snake!”

“Actually I’m only part snake,” Kai corrected, “Isn’t it cool?”

“What? No it’s not cool!” Lloyd yelled.

“ **SHUT IT!** ” Kai ordered, “You just don’t understand!” 

Kai launched a quick blast of energy at Lloyd. Lloyd dropped his head weakly after the blast. He looked up at Kai slowly.

Kai giggled. “Sorry Lloyd, that’s all for today,” he apologized, “Turns out when you turn yourself half snake, it feels really painful!” Kai explained in with an oddly happy tone. “Well, have fun being trapped here forever!” Kai said, leaving Lloyd alone once more.

Kai laughed again as he walked down the hall. “This was a good idea.”

______________________________________________

Kai was laying back on his throne, kicking his feet playfully.

“Pew, pew!” Kai sounded as he shot at the ceiling with his staff. “Ha ha ha!”

“Master Kai,” Kai was interrupted as one of his servants entered the room, “We found another prisoner trying to escape.”

“Ugh! Send them in, I’ll deal with them,” Kai directed, an annoyed tone to his voice, “Maybe I need to do a better job at punishing them…”

“Let go of me!” the prisoner demanded.

Kai stared at the prisoner with wide eyes, dropping his staff. He instantly recognized the nindroid standing in front of him.

Zane looked at the guard angrily as he left the room. He turned towards Kai, gasping as he saw his old friend.

“Zane?” 

“Kai?”

“How long have you been here?” Kai asked, a cheery smile on his face.

“I’ve… been stuck here for months like the rest of us,” Zane replied, slight confusion in his voice.

“Ha ha ha!” Kai laughed, “You’re adorable.”

“Kai, I don’t understand this,” Zane said, “YOU’RE the one in charge?”

“Hee hee,” Kai giggled, “Why don’t you come over here?”

“Actually, I’m fine over here,” Zane replied.

“That wasn’t a request,” Kai responded with a more intimidating voice as he grabbed his staff.

Zane stared at Kai fearfully. He tried to back away, but felt his body start to lift off the ground.

“What the? Put me down!” Zane said as Kai levitated to nindroid closer.

“There, that’s better,” Kai replied, smiling at Zane. He dropped Zane back on the ground.

“ACK!” 

“Isn’t this fun?” Kai asked as Zane rubbed his forehead after landing on the ground, “We’ve both changed a lot, haven’t we? I have a snake tail, you’re all shiny,”

“It’s titanium,” Zane corrected.

“Whatever,” Kai dismissed, “I’m so happy to have you back! I’ve really missed you, Zane.”

Zane ignored Kai, instead, scanning his staff, noticing the high levels of corruption coming off of the staff. He stepped back in fear.

“But now that you’re back,” Kai continued, “We can catch up on everything!”

“Kai, the staff has corrupted you,” Zane warned, “We need to-”

“ **YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY STAFF!** ” Kai snapped, “Is that the reason you came back? To take my staff?”

“What? Kai, that doesn’t make logical sense, I-”

“Alright, alright, I’m bored now,” Kai interrupted, “But, just to make sure you don’t leave me again,”

Before Zane could try to do anything, Kai used his staff to move him further away. He landed on the ground felt it start to rumble. Large rock spikes shot out of the ground, forming a cage around Zane. 

“Kai! You have to snap out of it!” Zane called from the cage as Kai slowly approached, “Please…”

“Zane…” Kai said softly. He placed his hand on Zane’s cheek, looking at him, his eyes turning brown for a brief moment. “I still love you,” he said, “I’m sorry…”

______________________________________________

“Kai, please,” Zane pleaded. Multiple weeks had gone by since he was captured by Kai. He continued to try and reason with him, refusing to give up. The Kai he knew was still in there, he had seen it. Kai would have very brief moments where his eyes would turn brown, proving to Zane that there was still hope.

“When are you gonna stop whining?” Kai asked, “You’re bumming me out.”

“Kai, I know you’re still in there!” Zane said.

“Of course I’m still here!” Kai replied, “Are your eyes messed up or something?”

“No, the REAL you!” Zane clarified.

Kai laughed. “This IS the real me!” he responded, “This is the me I always dreamed to be! All this power, I’ve never felt better!”

“But Kai, you’re part snake!” Zane argued, “That isn’t normal.”

“Yeah, but doesn’t my tail look so cool?”

“No, it’s creepy.”

“Thanks!” Kai smiled.

“Your mind is messed up, Kai,” Zane muttered, “That staff did more than just corrupt you morally. It must be messing with your mental state too.”

“I like it when you talk like that,” Kai complimented, completely ignoring Zane’s words, “It makes you sound so smart.”

“Are you even listening to me!?” Zane yelled, “That staff is destroying your mind! What would the others think about what your doing?”

“The others?” Kai questioned, “You mean the other elemental masters? I’ve already recaptured most of them.”

“No, Jay and Cole,” Zane replied, “And what about Lloyd?”

“Oh, Lloyd has a special cell I keep him in,” Kai explained, “He needs to pay for taking everything away from me.”

“Lloyd?” Zane questioned quietly, “What have you done with him!?”

“Don’t worry, he’s still alive,” Kai assured, “What use would he be if he was just a dead body?” Kai began laughing.

“Kai, you’ve gone crazy!” Zane yelled.

Kai just continued laughing, completely disregarding Zane’s comment.

“Kai would you listen to me for once!?” Zane shouted.

Kai went quiet, looking at Zane. “Ok, fine,” he agreed, “What do you wanna say?”

“Kai, this isn’t you. I know that power probably feels really good, but please listen to me when I tell you that you need to destroy it.”

“Would you stop with that!?” Kai yelled, “All this talk about my staff and how it’s dangerous. That’s all you seem to talk about. I’m starting to get sick of it.” Kai spun his throne around, turning his back to Zane. “I thought you’d be happy to see me again… Do you even realize all the pain you put me through?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb!” Kai yelled, turning back to Zane, “You LEFT us!”

“I…” Zane paused, struggling as he recalled the events, “The Overlord was going to hurt all of you… I did what I thought was right…”

“You know, the whole reason we came here was to find you,” Kai stated, “It just so happens I found something else along the way.”

Zane froze up.  _ This… this is my fault…  _ he thought.

Kai chuckled a bit. “I guess I should be thanking you, huh?” He look at Zane with gentle eyes. “You’ve really opened my eyes.”

Zane shook his head. “Kai, please…”

“Ugh, all this pleading makes you sound like Skylor,” Kai complained, “Now if you don’t stop I’ll have to get rid of you too, Zane.”

“Wh-what did you do to Skylor?” Zane asked, fearful.

“Oh, I…” Kai paused, “What did I do? Uhh.... Oh well, it’s not important.”

“How do you not remember?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t,” Kai explained, “I’ve been having trouble remembering things for a while. It’s fine though.”

“It’s worse than I thought,” Zane responded.

“Would it kill you to say something positive?” Kai asked, “Maybe it would and that’s why you keep complaining. I don’t blame you, dying a second time would probably suck.”

Zane flinched away. “I would appreciate if we stop talking about that…”

“And I would appreciate some positivity,” Kai retorted, “We don’t always get what we want.”

“If you want positivity, perhaps you should find Jay instead of talking to me,” Zane mumbled.

“Hey, that’s a great idea!” Kai replied, “Cole and Jay have been missing out on all of this! I should go find them!”

“Wait, no!” Zane tried to stop him, but Kai was already leaving the room.

Kai let out a little laugh, “You’ve always been so smart, Zane,” he replied, “I knew keeping you around was a good idea.”

Kai left the room, leaving Zane alone in the throne room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kai's story was the second one. Out of the five of these, BE!Kai is kinda the most canon so that's interesting to think about. Hope you guys like this crazy boy, because I feel like he just gets somehow crazier as the au progresses...


	3. Chapter 3

“Nighty night, ninja,” 

“Ack!” Jay grunted as he was thrown

into the cell again. He rubbed the back of his head before looking at the scratches and bruises on his arms. “Huh, I’m pretty sure that’s a new record…” 

Jay had just finished another round of scrap and tap, something he had gotten used to from being stuck on Nadakhan’s ship for so long. Jay crawled over to the side of his cold, dark cell. There was a puddle of dirty water, ‘drinking water’ Nadakhan called it. Jay knew it was just another ploy to get him to wish it all away. He only used it as a makeshift mirror. He leaned over the puddle, trying to examine his face. He had a big bruise on his cheek and many scratches over his left eye. The blood was still fresh. Jay let out a sigh before taking off one of his ripped gloves to try and cover the scratches with it. His gi was barely recognizable from all the rips and tears in it. Jay leaned against the wall and looked up at the night sky. Many bright, beautiful stars shined, but Jay hardly cared. 

“Any day now…” Jay whispered,

“They’ll come. I know they will…”

Jay closed his eyes, attempting to get 

some sleep, but was almost instantly interrupted as the crew members began playing music, clearly trying to keep Jay up. Jay gave an annoyed sigh before closing his eyes again. He slowly laid down on the cold ground, moving slowly due to his sore muscles. He curled up in a ball, the only thing he found he was able to comfort himself with. After a while, he could feel his sleepiness take over as the sound of the music started to mean nothing. 

Jay saw himself on the bounty, looking into the sky. The wind blew in his hair as he let out a smile. He breathed in the fresh air, letting out a sigh.

“You seem awfully happy,”

Jay turned around, recognizing the ghostly voice.

“Hey, Cole,” Jay greeted before turning back. Cole joined him at the side. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“What, the sky?”

“What else?” Jay retorted, “I could get used to this.”

Cole was quiet, turning away.

Jay didn’t seem to notice as he was too mesmerized by the sky. He couldn’t explain why he felt so drawn to it, he just did. 

“You know, Cole,” Jay continued, “I was beginning to think you didn’t actually care about me.” Jay let out a little chuckle, turning to the ghost, but Cole was gone. “Cole?”

Jay looked around confused, the sky beginning to darken. A loud BOOM shot from the sky, causing Jay to jump. He turned back as he saw a massive storm approaching the bounty. Another boom of thunder sounded, shaking the bounty and causing Jay to stumble back. He felt his body start to slide as the bounty began to tilt. A jolt of lightning struck the side of the bounty, causing part of the railing to break.

“WHAH!” Jay yelled as he fell. He started to fall off the side of the bounty, but managed to grab the remaining of the railing. He hung on for dear life. “Help!” he called out. He struggled to climb back onto the bounty. He squinted as he saw a swarm of shadowy figures approach him. It was hard to make them out, but he could tell there were multiple people. One of them stepped forward, approaching the blue ninja. Jay stared up, horror in his eyes.

Cole stared down at Jay, but Jay couldn’t make out his expression.

“Cole, help!” Jay pleaded as he started to lose his grip. “Cole!” 

Cole just stared quietly at Jay.

“COLE!” Jay screamed one more time before finally falling.

“AHH!” Jay jolted awake, taking in his surroundings. He was still in his cell on Misfortune’s Keep. Jay took some deeps breaths as he calmed down.

“Looks like you’re awake.” Jay looked up to see Flintlocke. “Good. The deck needs cleaning and Clancee can’t do it on his own.”

Jay said nothing as Flintlocke opened the cell and pulled the blue ninja out. He aimed one of his guns at Jay’s back as he pushed him towards the deck. Jay walked silently. He was used to this routine. He wasn’t really threatened by Flintlocke’s guns anymore. He knew he wouldn’t shoot him, Nadakhan wouldn’t let him. Nadakhan wanted Jay to suffer, and Jay knew that. 

They eventually arrived at the main deck. Flintlocke handed Jay a mop and kicked a bucket filled with water towards him, small droplets of the soapy water spilling onto the deck.

“Now, get to moppin’,” Flintlocke ordered, “Clancee, you keep an eye on him.”

“Y-yes, Flintlocke,” Clancee stuttered, giving Flintlocke a salute as the second-in-command walked away. As Flintlocke turned the corner, Clancee went back to mopping the deck.

Things were quiet for a while as the two mopped the deck, Jay standing with his back to Clancee.

“S-so,” Clancee broke the silence, “Did ya sleep well?”

“No,” Jay said simply.

“I don’t blame you,” Clancee replied, “Gettin’ good sleep here is difficult. Even I have trouble falling asleep sometimes!”

Jay didn’t respond, instead he just gave a solemn look to the ground as he continued mopping.

Clancee looked over at Jay, a slightly worried look on his face. 

“I-I noticed you stopped wearing that eyepatch I gave ya,” Clancee said, “Did ya lose it? I could find you another one, I-”

“I didn’t want it,” Jay interrupted.

“What?”

“I didn’t want it,” Jay repeated, harsher, “I don’t need an eyepatch.”

“A-a-are you sure?” Clancee asked, “That e-eye of yours is starting to look pretty bad…”

“I know, Clancee,” Jay snapped, “I know it looks bad! But hey, as long as my eye still works, I don’t need an eyepatch…”

“Oh…” Clancee replied softly. He turned back towards his bucket, dunking his mop in the water again. The two of them mopped in silence once again for what felt like hours. Jay turned towards his bucket, staring at his reflection. Despite what he told Clancee, he couldn’t actually see out of his other eye. His gaze saddened as he looked at himself.

“They’re not coming…” Jay muttered.

“What?” Clancee questioned, “Who?”

“My friends… the other ninja…” Jay explained. He turned towards Clancee. “They’re not coming…”

“B-but, I thought they were gonna come try to save you,” Clancee replied, “That’s what ya kept telling’ me, but I kept tellin’ ya if they did show up it wouldn’t matter because-”

“THEY’RE NOT COMING!” Jay snapped, “It’s been months! If they wanted to save me, they would’ve been here by now!”

Clancee flinched back, a bit frightened seeing Jay this angry. He nervously turned back to the spot he was mopping, saying nothing.

Jay stood quietly, staring at Clancee before turning his back again, putting his focus on mopping the deck. 

______________________________________________

That night, Jay sat quietly in his cell, unable to find the energy to move at all. He stared down at his hands, the only movements he was making was the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. He heard someone approach his cell, but didn’t make the effort to look up at all.

“H-hello?” Jay heard Clancee’s voice, “I-it’s me, Clancee. I-I know you said ya didn’t want it, b-but I just figured… Maybe later, if y-you feel the need…” 

Clancee quietly dropped the eyepatch into Jay’s cell. Jay continued sitting quietly, glancing over at the eyepatch on the ground. 

“S-sorry for bothering you,” Clancee apologized, “I-I’ll leave you alone now…”

Jay looked back at his hands as the sound of Clancee stumbling away started to quiet down. Jay remembered the others. He remembered how they treated him before he got captured.

_ Haven’t I suffered enough? _

__ _ No! _

Those words seemed to play in his head on repeat. Jay closed his eyes tight as he felt tears starting to form. 

_ Well, I know who just nominated themselves to extract the Tiger Widow’s venom. _

__ “I made a mistake, ok!?” Jay yelled out, “I made a mistake! I’m sorry!” Jay kneeled over, holding his stomach as his tears dropped onto the cold ground below. “I know I’m a screw up, I know I can’t do anything right,” Jay whimpered to himself, “I’m a failure… Everyone knows it, they’ve all known this whole time… They don’t care about me… they never did…” Jay went quiet for a moment, the only sound in the cell being the quiet sobbing noises he made as he cried to himself. “I’m sorry…” he repeated, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for being a failure…”

Jay was interrupted as he heard quiet laughter. He looked up, his face turning to a slight scowl.

“Well well, looks like you’ve finally snapped,” An orange cloud appeared in front of Jay as Nadakhan showed his face. “You’re friends have abandoned you. You don’t have anything else to hold onto, do you?”

“Get to the point, Nadakhan,” Jay grumbled.

Nadakhan left out another laugh. “I can take all this pain away, might I remind you. It’s only a few simple words.”

“Yeah right,” Jay retorted, “I’m still not falling for it. I’m not trapping myself in your stupid sword.”

“You call it stupid, but I think you know the true power I have with this sword,” Nadakhan replied, pulling out the Sword of Souls. “One hit from this can send anyone into the sword, trapping them forever.”

“If all it takes is one hit, why not just attack me right now?” Jay questioned.

“Oh, quite simple,” Nadakhan replied, “I’m still having too much fun to just trap you like that. I’ve come this far, and I know it’s only a matter of time before you break.”

Jay glared at Nadakhan. “Sorry, but you’re gonna have to wait longer.”

“I figured you would say that,” Nadakhan replied, putting his sword away, “You’re a lot tougher than you look, I have to commend that.” Nadakhan turned around, floating away from Jay slightly. “I’ll give you one last chance. I’m warning you, tomorrow looks like it’ll be very rough for you.”

“Still not happening,” Jay insisted.

“So be it,” Nadakhan replied, “I’ll leave you for tonight. You look like you need the rest. Although, I’m not sure how much rest you’ll be getting. My crew seems awfully restless tonight.”

Nadakhan poofed away in a cloud of orange smoke. Jay stared at the smoke as it cleared, a stern look on his face. He looked over towards the eyepatch Clancee left for him. He crawled over to it and picked it up. The fabric was surprisingly soft. Jay took a moment to rub his fingers across the soft cloth. He sighed before putting it over his head, covering his scarred eye. He winced as it touched the scratches as they were still sore. Jay blinked a couple times before resting against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.

______________________________________________

It had been almost a month since Jay had that meeting with Nadakhan in his cell. Nadakhan decided to give the blue ninja slight leeway and removed his ball and chain during the day. He was still required to wear it at night to prevent him from fully recharging his powers. Jay was wandering around the ship as he didn’t really have anything to do. He walked passed Clancee who looked over at him.

“J-Jay,” Clancee said, “What are you doing?”

“Walking,” Jay replied, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Oh, it’s just, w-won’t Nadakhan get mad if he finds out y-you’re not doing anything?”

“He’s not gonna do anything to me,” Jay replied, “He doesn’t have the guts.”

“Y-you shouldn’t say that about the c-c-captain,” Clancee warned, “Y-you know he’s always l-listening.”

“Please, he’s only intimidating because he’s a djinn,” Jay retorted, “If he was a normal person like everyone else-” Jay froze. “Wait a minute, that’s it!”

“W-what?” Clancee asked.

Jay let out a little laugh. “How could I be so stupid? The answer was right there the whole time!”

Before Clancee could ask any other questions, Jay started walking away. Jay went to find an empty area on the ship, which was easier said than done. A bunch of crew members were walking around. Although they were supposed to keep an eye on Jay, they kinda stopped caring as much. They knew Jay wouldn’t cause any trouble. Jay found a stack of large crates. He looked around before hiding behind them. He sat down, kneeling into a ball and started fake crying. 

“I can’t take this anymore!” Jay cried out, “I can’t! I just can’t!”

Jay heard a familiar laugh and looked up, sadness in his eyes.

“Are you finally giving up?” Nadakhan asked as he appeared in a puff of orange smoke.

“N-Nadakhan!” Jay stammered, “Of course not! I would never surrender to you!”

“Oh, you got my hopes up,” Nadakhan replied, “Although, I’m a bit confused. I figured you would be used to the torture by now. What’s making you so distressed right now?”

Jay looked away. “I… I know the ninja don’t care about me… But here, I feel like I belong here. I… I want to become a member of your crew.”

Nadakhan blinked in surprise. “You? A member of Misfortune’s Keep?”

“C’mon, I’ve worked for you for months,” Jay reasoned, “I’m basically already part of the crew, wouldn’t you agree? Plus, you know I won’t betray you. After all, the ninja already betrayed me.”

Nadakhan let out a laugh. “I like how you think,” Nadakhan replied, “You are very tough, I'll give you that. We need more crew members like you.”

“So, you’ll let me join?” Jay asked.

“How could I say no?”

Jay stared at Nadakhan with wide eyes. He smiled.

“Nadakhan,” he said, “I think I’d like to use my final wish.”

“Hm?” Nadakhan questioned, “What more could you possibly want?”

“Just one little thing,” Jay responded, “Don’t you think I deserve a small reward for my persistence?”

“Very well,” Nadakhan agreed, “What is your wish?”

“I wish,” Jay paused for a moment, “That you were a human.”

“Wh-what?” Nadakhan asked, shocked. He felt a strange surge of pain flow through his body as he kneeled over, a powerful orange smoke surrounding his body.

Jay stood back up, smirking at Nadakhan as he kneeled onto the ground in pain.

“Y-your wish… is yours to… k-keep,” Nadakhan stammered, struggling to speak through the pain. He dropped his sword on the ground and Jay instantly picked it up. He looked back at Nadakhan as his transformation finished. Nadakhan kneeled on the ground, attempting to catch his breath. He looked up as Jay pointed the sword directly at him.

“Get up,” Jay ordered, “Now.”

“I…”

“Did you hear me!? Get up!” Jay yelled. 

Nadakhan stumbled as he tried to stand up. He realized he wouldn’t be able to fight back if Jay had the Sword of Souls.

“You… you tricked me!?”

“I can’t believe it actually worked to be honest,” Jay replied, “I didn’t think you would be such an idiot.”

Nadakhan scowled at the master of lightning.

“Alright, go,” Jay demanded, still pointing the sword at Nadakhan, “Go to the main deck.”

“What are you going to do with me?” Nadakhan asked.

“SHUT UP AND GO!” Jay yelled.

Nadakhan begrudgingly backed up before turning around, heading for the main deck. As the two of them walked, the crew members all looked over in shock. Flintlocke turned his head as he heard the gasps of his crewmates and gave a shocked look as he saw Jay and Nadakhan.

“Captain, what-”

“Quiet!” Jay hushed him. 

They made their way to the main deck, standing in the center to address the crowd. He turned to Nadakhan, glaring at him as he generated a bit of lightning in his hand. He jabbed Nadakhan in his side, electrocuting him before kicking him onto the ground. He pointed his sword at him before looking over to the worried crew members.

“I know you all see Nadakhan as your feared captain,” Jay said, “But not anymore.”

“C-captain!” Clancee yelled.

“SHUT UP!” Jay snapped, “No one speaks unless I tell you to, otherwise you’ll get a one way ticket to my sword along with Nadakhan’s other victims.”

“That’s not your sword,” Nadakhan argued with a weak voice, “I belongs to my family!”

Jay stomped on Nadakhan’s back to shut him up.

“AGH!” he yelled in pain, something he wasn’t used to.

“Now, does anyone else want to interrupt me?” Jay asked, looking over to the crowd.

Everyone was silent as they looked at Nadakhan with terrified expressions.

“Good,” Jay replied. 

He leaned over and picked up Nadakhan by his scarf before aggressively pushing him towards the railing of the ship. He grabbed Nadakhan’s scarf again, pulling it off of him.

“I’ll be taking this,” Jay said, “I always thought it looked kind of nice.”

“What? Why would-”

“As much as I would like to see you suffer,” Jay interrupted, “I know you like to play mind games, so I’d rather not take any risks.”

Before Nadakhan could try to defend himself, Jay shoved him off the side of the ship. The crew all watched in horror as their former captain fell towards the deep ocean below. Jay watched with a satisfied smile on his face as Nadakhan’s screams got quieter and quieter. Eventually, everything went silent. Jay turned towards the crew, a smirk still on his face. 

“Alright everyone,” he said, “These chores aren't going to do themselves, are they?”

______________________________________________

Jay had been the new captain of Misfortune's Keep for a couple months now. Not many people knew he was the new captain until he showed up to steal things from them, mostly electronics and video games, and they never said anything because Jay would always threaten them not to say anything. It was easier to steal things when people were too in shock from seeing their former hero robbing them to do anything about it. No one on the crew understood Jay’s extreme want for these strange objects, but no one dared to question him. Even after he demanded to install outlets on the ships and none of the crew members understood what he was talking about. They all learned it was a terrible idea to question their new captain.

Jay actually quiet enjoyed the pirate life, more than he thought he would. For once, everyone would listen to him. They took him seriously. It felt good, and it was a feeling he never had with the ninja.

Jay was in his cabin, marking out his next plan of attack.

“Let’s see, this part of town still doesn’t know… So we could attack here, but it would take some time to get there,” Jay mumbled to himself.

“C-Captain!”

Jay looked up as Clancee entered his cabin.

“What is it, Clancee?” Jay asked, “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“I-I know captain, b-but, it’s just…” Clancee stammered, “We caught some prisoners trying to board the ship…”

“Alright, well just put them in one of the empty cells,” Jay directed, still looking at his map.

“It’s the ninja…”

“What?” Jay questioned quietly. He turned to Clancee who had a worried look on his face. Jay thought for a moment. “Lock them in the cell,” he ordered, “Make sure you use vengestone so they don’t try and escape. I’ll decide what to do with them later.”

“Y-yes, captain,” Clancee stuttered before running off, closing the door behind him. 

Jay looked down at his table. He reached for his sword, clutching it tight.

“AGH!” Jay yelled before shooting a blast of fire at the wall. He stared at the scorched mark angrily, continuing to hold his sword tight.

______________________________________________

“Hey, let go!” Nya yelled as one of the crew members threw her into the cell along with Cole and Lloyd. They all had large, vengestone chains wrapped around their ankles.

“Sorry, captain’s orders,” the crew member replied before slamming the cell door shut.

“Ergh, when I get my hands on Nadakhan, I’ll-” Nya grumbled.

“Ha! Nadakhan?” the crew member laughed, “Wow, you have been gone for a long time.”

“What?” Lloyd questioned, “What does that mean?”

The crew member walked away before the ninja could try and question him further.

“Well this is just great,” Cole complained, “How are we supposed to save Jay if we’re trapped here?”

“We’ll find a way,” Lloyd assured, “After all, we found a way off of that island… eventually… but hey, we still did it!”

“Lloyd’s right,” Nya agreed, “We have to stay positive. After all, isn’t that what Jay would do?”

“Yeah,” Cole responded, “That’s exactly what Jay would do,” Cole was quiet for a little bit. “Man, I miss him.”

“We all do,” Nya replied, “If only we didn't get stuck on that stupid island. Poor Jay’s probably suffered so much.”

Suddenly, one of the crew members showed up.

“Green one. The captain wants to have a word with you,” he informed.

“What if I refuse?” Lloyd asked.

The crew member laughed. “No one refuses the captain,” he explained, “No one.”

He opened up the cell and pulled Lloyd out before quickly closing the cell before Cole or Nya could try to escape. 

“Lloyd!” Cole called after the green ninja.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Lloyd assured, “You two try to find a way out!”

Eventually, Cole and Nya were unable to see Lloyd anymore as he was dragged away.

“Alright, think,” Cole said, “How do we get out of here?” He looked around the room, but it was empty. Cole then noticed a puddle of water in the corner. “Nya, can you use that water to get us out somehow?”

“Cole, they chained vengestone to our ankles,” Nya reminded, “We can’t use out powers.”   
“Oh yeah…” Cole replied, “How else are we gonna get out of here?”

“We should just wait for Lloyd to get back,” Nya replied, “When the guards open the cell to put him back in, we can ambush them, find where they’re keeping Jay, and escape!”

“Good plan,” Cole agreed, “Hopefully he isn’t gone that long.”

Cole and Nya sat around in the cell, completely bored and impatient as they waited for Lloyd to get back. Nya was pacing around, dragging her ball and chain along the rough ground while Cole messed around with his fingers, phasing them through each other.

“What’s taking them so long!?” Nya yelled.

Almost as soon as she said that, a crew member showed up.

“Water ninja. Your turn,” he directed.

“What?” Nya questioned, “Where’s Lloyd?”

“Stop asking questions and just come with me,” the crew member ordered. He opened the cell and pulled Nya out.

“Ack! Let go!” Nya ordered as she struggled to escape from the crew member’s grasp. She kicked him away, but two other crew members showed up, threatening Nya with swords.

“You’re making this harder that it needs to be,” they said, “The captain just wants to see you.”

“Hmph. Fine,” Nya replied, “Cole, don’t worry, I’ll find the others.”

“I believe in you, Nya!” Cole called after her as she got dragged away. 

Cole suddenly found himself alone in the cell. Everything was frighteningly quiet. Cole didn’t like it. Being alone in complete silence like this made him uncomfortable. He took some deep breaths to calm himself down.

“What does Nadakhan want with Lloyd and Nya?” he asked himself, “Well, I know why, but why is he taking so long to talk to them?” Cole began to get worried about his friends. “What if he trapped everyone else? What if he trapped Jay? What if I’m the only one left!?” he began to ramble, “Alright, Cole, calm down. You don’t know that for sure. It’s just… A high possibility…” Cole thought for a moment. "Is Nadakhan even still in charge?"

Cole looked up as the cell opened again.

“Your turn, ghost boy,” the crew member ordered.

“That was quick,” Cole commented.

“The captain was really mad with the girl,” he explained, “And from what he’s said about you, I would be worried if I were you.”

Cole gave the guard a confused look as he led him to the main deck. He looked around, but didn’t see Lloyd or Nya. He began to get worried again. The guard pushed Cole onto the ground before walking away.

“Hey, watch it!” Cole yelled. He looked over to the cabin door as it opened. He stared in shock as he saw a familiar face walk out.

“Ah, Cole, good to see you.”

“Jay?” Cole asked, confused and concerned.

Jay looked a lot different from the last time Cole had seen him. He had an eyepatch over his left eye with scars poking out from behind it. He seemed to still be wearing his old gi, but it was ripped and tattered, the sleeves being completely gone and the gloves looking in very bad shape. He also wore a red scarf around his neck, some armor over parts of his chest, and long, deep blue colored boots.

“Jay, what’s going on?” Cole asked, “Where’s Nadakhan? Where’s Nya and Lloyd?”

Jay let out a laugh, causing Cole to feel uneasy. “Don’t worry about that, I just want to talk to you,” he assured.

“Jay, what are you talking about?” Cole asked, “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is you guys are intruding,” Jay explained.

“Intruding?” Cole questioned, “Jay, we came to  _ save  _ you!”

“Oh really?” Jay asked, “You came to ‘save’ me? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t need saving.” Jay turned around. “I already saved myself.”

“What are you talking about?”

Jay glanced back at Cole, a smirk on his face before turning around again.

“I’m the captain of Misfortune’s Keep now,” he informed.

“What?” Cole questioned, stumbling back a bit. He shook his head. “No, that’s not true,” he tried to argue, “This must be one of Nadakhan’s tricks.”

Jay flinched a bit, stepping back slightly. “You really have that little confidence in me?” Jay asked quietly, glaring at the ghost.

“What? No, Jay, I just-”   
“SHUT UP!” Jay yelled, “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear about how you ‘believe’ in me. You never believed in me! None of you did!” Jay let out a little chuckle. “Heh. It just took me months of isolation to realize it.”

“Jay, if you would just listen!” Cole tried to reason, “We wanted to come save you but we were stuck on that island! You’re a ninja, Jay, not a pirate.”

Jay turned away, clearly not buying Cole’s argument. 

“You’re wrong, Cole,” Jay disagreed, “I  _ was  _ a ninja. But turns out I actually like the pirate life a hundred times more than being a ninja. I’m a pirate captain now! And I don’t need to guys anymore.” Jay grinned, looking down at his sword as he gently rubbed the blade.

“Jay, this is crazy!” Cole argued, “Let’s just free everyone and go back to how things were.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Jay asked, “You’d like us all to go back and pretend this didn’t happen. Well, news flash, Cole! I’m not freeing the others from my sword, and I think it’s about time you joined them.”

The sky began to darken as storm clouds started rolling in, slight rumbles starting to sound from the distance.

Jay quickly swung his sword at Cole who rolled out of the way. The sword sliced into the floorboards, tiny splinters flying into the air as the sword got stuck. Cole scrambled onto his feet. There was a loud CRASH as a bolt of lightning lit the sky.

“Jay, don’t do this!” Cole pleaded.

“Oh, c’mon, Cole,” Jay said as he struggled to pull his sword out of the floor, “Don’t you want to join the others?” 

He finally managed to yank his sword free. The sword began glowing an aqua blue color as Jay readied an attack. Cole stared at it in shock. Jay quickly blasted a beam of water towards Cole, but he managed to jump out of the way. He winced as tiny water droplets hit his arm. Jay’s sword then turned a bright green color, shining bright against the dark, stormy sky.

“Heh,” Jay chuckled, “Remember how you always said you were my best friend? I actually believed you, you know.”

“Jay-”

“I actually thought you cared about me,” Jay continued. He blasted at Cole with green energy, just barely missing him, a pile of rubble falling next to the black ninja. “Out of everyone, I figured you’d be the one to actually care about me. Boy was I wrong, huh? First you tried to take Nya from me, then you told EVERYONE about my secret when I TRUSTED you!” Jay was slowly approaching Cole. Cole tried to back away, but was stopped by a wall. “Then you send me to fight a deadly spider BY MYSELF! And you let me ROT on a pirate ship for MONTHS only to show up and have the nerve to claim you came to save me!”

“Jay, I’m sorry!” Cole tried to apologize, “I’ve been a terrible friend, I’m sorry!”

“Sorry won’t cut it anymore,” Jay grumbled.

Before Cole could try to do anything else, Jay raised his sword in the air, striking it at Cole. Cole suddenly felt his body become numb as his soul was sucked into the sword. He screamed out for help, but there was nothing anyone could do now.

Jay stood still as his old friend became trapped in the sword, a faint green glow fading from it. Jay looked down at the mint green blade of the sword, staring at his reflection. His scowl quickly turned to a smile as he looked at himself. He rested the blade of his sword over his shoulder as he looked out at the sky, the storm clouds beginning to disperse.

****  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this was probably one of my favorite backstories to write. I don't know what it is about BE!Jay, I just find his character so interesting. I know I already said it before on my tumblr, but BE!Jay scares me the most, and hopefully this origin story helped show that a little more. I'm hoping to finish posting this fic by the end of the week, so hopefully it all works out


	4. Chapter 4

The ghostly green of the rift started to fade from the sky as it disappeared. Cole stared at it, his eyes wide with sadness. He had lost his chance. His one chance to feel normal again, his one chance to finally feel like he belonged again. Cole felt tears forming in his eyes. Drops of ectoplasm slowly fell from his face, falling onto the roof of the temple he stood on. He fell on his knees, defeated.

“They… they didn’t come…” Cole cried softly, “They forgot about me…”

Cole felt a sudden pain over his right eye. 

“AGH!” Cole screamed in pain, covering his eye with his hand.

“Well, isn’t that sad,” Yang’s ghostly voice spoke, “It looks like your form is reacting to your distress.”

“What?” Cole questioned, tears still streaming down his face, “What are you talking about?”

“There’s still so much about being a ghost you don’t understand,” Yang explained, “Like how ghosts receive their markings. They represent a change in the ghost’s emotional state, some more subtle than others.” Yang gestured his head towards the small puddle of ectoplasm Cole had created.

Cole looked down at the puddle, just barely being able to see his reflection in it. A dark scar had formed over his eye. He saw what looked like more tears running down his eyes. He wiped his eyes, but the markings were still there. Cole looked at himself, unable to speak.

“Come,” Yang gestured, “The wind is going to be picking up soon. And it’s much nicer inside the temple.”

Cole hesitated for a moment before standing up and following Yang inside, both of them simply phasing through the roof. They entered a large room where Yang made his way to the center to start meditating. He closed his eyes, levitating slightly off of the ground. Cole walked over to the window, looking at the starry sky.

“You’re friends never showed up, did they?” Yang asked.

Cole let out a sigh. “They didn’t even see me before…” Cole murmured, “It’s like… I didn’t even exist to them…”

“Hm,” Yang nodded, “It seems your friends have lost interest in you.”

Cole blinked, turning towards Yang.

“Tell me Cole, when was the last time one of your ‘friends’ acknowledged you? When was the last time they made the effort to care about you?”

“Earlier today,” Cole explained, “When I started fading, Jay went back to help me.”

“Are you sure he did that because he cared?” Yang questioned, “Or because you were burdening him?”

Cole froze. He stared at Yang before turning back around to the window. He closed his

eyes, trying to stifle his feelings of neglect. 

“They didn’t even realize I was here…” Cole realized, “They didn’t care…”

“I know this must be a hard feeling for you, Cole,” Yang continued, “I know you don’t have the fondest of feelings for me. After all, I’m the reason you became a ghost. But I’d like to help you.”

“Help me?” Cole questioned, his tone harsh, “Why do you suddenly care about helping me?”

“Oh, poor, foolish Cole,” Yang said, floating over to the ninja, “I am a sensei, don’t forget. And I don’t have any students left to teach, all except for you. That is, if you’re willing to listen.”

Cole stared at Yang, not saying anything.

Yang took this as a reason to continue his offer. “There’s still so much to being a ghost you don’t understand. So much no one else would be able to teach you.”

“I…” Cole hesitated.

“Please, you’re going to be stuck as a ghost for such a long time, you might as well learn some things.”

“What kind of things?” Cole asked.

Yang let out a chuckle. “Cole, you have so much potential. Potential that the other ninja can’t even dream of. They’ve always underestimated you, believing you were the weak link of the team. But they should fear you. You have the ability to take out all of them.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Cole asked, “They’re my friends.”

“Are they really?” Yang asked, “Might I remind you that they left you here to disappear without a trace? Ninjago may not be able to remember you as the hero you’ve been, but if you listen to me, I’ll make sure you’ll be remembered forever.”

Cole thought about Yang’s offer. “Let’s just start with the ghost lessons,” he decided.

“Very well,” Yang nodded, “First, you need a proper weapon.” He grabbed a scythe from the ground and threw it towards Cole. Cole caught it and looked at it before looking back at Yang. “A weapon like that is nothing compared to what you’re capable of making.”

“What?” Cole asked, “What does that mean?”

“You ask too many questions,” Yang dismissed, “For now, focus your energy into that scythe. Imagine yourself becoming one with your weapon.”

Cole closed his eyes, focusing on what Yang told him. He could feel a strange aura spread from his hands onto the scythe.

“Good,” Yang said, “Don’t stop now.”

Cole continued channeling his energy into this scythe. The entire scythe became surrounded by a green, misty aura. Cole opened his eyes as the scythe started to glow a sickly green color. As the mist faded, the scythe appeared in a new form. The handle was as black as night, both ends of it spiked. The blade had a crack-like pattern across it, half of it a normal silver, the other half a brown color. Cole stared at it in awe.

“Congratulations,” Yang complimented, “Not many people can make a ghost weapon on their first try.”

“What does it do?” Cole asked.

“It has become an extension of your power,” Yang explained, “It can appear and disappear to your liking.”

Cole looked down at his scythe again. It disappeared in a puff of green smoke. Cole quickly summoned it again. It appeared directly in his hands.

“Now that you have a proper weapon,” Yang said, “We can get back to getting your revenge.”

“What?” Cole asked, “But, isn’t there anything else you need to teach me about being a ghost?”

“What else is there to teach?” Yang questioned, “As long as you start to accept your ghostly form, everything else will simply come to you.”

Cole put his scythe away and looked down at his hands. He clenched his fists and smiled, but his smile quickly dissipated.

“I… I still don’t know about this…” Cole admitted, “I can’t hurt my friends.”

“The more you let your friends control you, the more they’ll drag you down!” Yang

argued, “All your friends have done was drag you down, don’t forget.”

Cole started to think about all the times his friends had mistreated him.

“Think about all the pain they’ve caused you,” Yang instructed, “Remember how you sacrificed yourself to get the scroll of Airjitzu. Did they care? Or did they only care that they got the scroll?”

Cole turned around, placing his hands over his face as the memories started coming back to him.

“Even now, if they saw the distress they’ve caused you, do you really think they would care? Do you really think your feelings matter to them?”

Cole could feel an anger start to rise in his body. He felt a strange mist surround his body. His ninja gi seeming to melt into a more ghostly outfit. 

“The only way you’ll be able to free yourself from this cycle of belittlement is to make them pay,” Yang continued, “Make them see how powerful you truly are.”

“AGH!” Cole yelled as the cloud surrounding his body dispersed, spreading around the room. “I’m TIRED of feeling like I don’t matter!” he roared, “And I’m tired of everyone treating me like I’m useless!”

“Exactly,” Yang said, “They’ve been treating you unfairly for so long. It’s about time you do something about it.”

“Oh, I will,” Cole assured, summoning his scythe again, “I will.”

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the loud creak of the front door opening. Cole and Yang both disappeared, making their way to the entrance of the temple to investigate what was happening. Cole’s eyes widened as he saw the ninja walking into the temple.

“Cole?” Jay called out, “Cole, are you here?”

“I don’t see him,” Kai said, “Zane, are you picking anything up?”

“No,” Zane answered, “It doesn’t seem like Cole is here.”

“But this is where Morro said he would be!” Jay argued, “He has to be here!”

“Morro?” Cole whispered, “Why would Morro tell them I’m here?”

“It seems they decided to trust the enemy,” Yang explained in a hushed voice.

“They came to look for me?” Cole questioned.

“Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?” Yang asked, “They haven’t done anything else to justify mercy.”

Cole shook his head. “You’re right,” he agreed, “They probably only came because they felt like they had to. Master Wu probably made them.”

“Jay, he’s not here,” Lloyd tried to reason, “We have to go.”

“You guys go ahead,” Jay said, “I’m going to look around a little more.”

“You sure?” Nya asked, “This place is really creepy. You sure you can handle it?”

“I can handle it perfectly fine, thank you very much!” Jay defended.

“Ok,” Nya replied, “Just let us know if anything happens.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jay assured as the others left, closing the door behind them. As the door closed, Jay looked around nervously. “Wow, this place does seem creepier than before…”

Cole watched Jay move through the temple silently. Despite the fact that he was invisible so Jay wouldn’t be able to see him, he didn't move a muscle.

Jay stopped to examine the broken artifacts on the ground.

“Well he was definitely here,” Jay said to himself, “He does love breaking things.”

Cole gave Jay an angry look, but still refused to make a move despite Jay’s slightly offensive remark.

“I’ll trust you to handle this,” Yang whispered, “I don’t want to take away from your glory. Unlike the ninja.”

Yang disappeared into the wall, leaving Cole alone to observe the blue ninja. He slowly floated closer to Jay so he didn’t leave his sight. 

Jay continued glancing around nervously. “Ugh, I hate haunted temples!” he complained, “Why do ghosts have to be so creepy?”

Cole’s eyes narrowed a bit as he watched Jay.

Jay eventually made his way upstairs. He entered the armory and looked at all the weapons scattered on the floor.

“What happened here?” Jay asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Jay jumped, not expecting to hear a voice. “WAH! Wh-who’s there!?” he demanded.

Jay turned around as a green cloud of smoke formed behind him, Cole appearing as the smoke cleared. Jay stared at the ghost, his eyes going wide. He stepped back in slight fear. 

“C-Cole!” Jay stammered, “What’s wrong with you? What happened?”

Cole glared at the blue ninja with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong with me?’” he demanded.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jay assured, “It’s just… you look different.”

“Oh, am I too scary for you now?” Cole asked, “Are you scared of me because I’m a ghost?”

“No, I-”

“Did you think I wouldn’t care?” Cole continued, “That I wouldn’t care that you guys forgot about me?”

“We didn’t forget about you, Cole!” Jay argued, “Well, not on purpose. I swear, we thought you were with us!”

“LIAR!” Cole yelled. He summoned his scythe, causing Jay to jump back.

“What the, how did you?”

Suddenly, Cole swung his scythe towards Jay. He missed and hit a nearby pot, shattering it into pieces.

“I’m DONE Jay!” Cole shouted, “I’m done with being treated like GARBAGE by you!” Cole continued swinging his scythe around angrily, Jay jumping away from every slash.

“Cole, calm down!” Jay tried to reason, “I don’t know why you’re so upset, but we can work through it!”

“Seriously!?” Cole asked, “You have NO IDEA why I’m upset!? Do you really care that little about me?” Cole’s expression turned more somber as he spoke. “You never realized I’ve been upset? That I’ve been suffering for so long?”

“Cole, I…” Jay paused, not knowing what to say.

Cole seemed to have calmed down slightly. At least, he wasn’t attacking Jay anymore because his anger had quickly turned to sadness.

“Cole, trust me, we can get through this together,” Jay said, slowly walking up to Cole, “I had no idea you were upset and I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel terrible.”

Cole stared at Jay as tears fell down his cheeks, slightly shocked by Jay’s apology.

Jay reached his hand out towards Cole. “C’mon, let’s just go home,” he said, “Everyone misses you.”

Cole lifted his hand slightly, debating whether or not he should take Jay’s hand. He heard a quiet whisper in his ear.

_ He’s choosing his words very wisely,  _ a voice in his head spoke,  _ He really knows how to play with your emotions. He’s just trying to manipulate you into thinking your anger is unjustified. He only wants to you calm down because he’s scared of you, not because he cares about your wellbeing.  _

__ Cole let the words process through his head. He looked down at Jay who had a gentle smile on his face. Cole could feel his anger rising again. His grasp on his scythe tightened. He narrowed his eyes again.

“No. Not this time,” Cole said, “You can’t trick me like that.”

“What?”

“You think you can just pretend to care and I’ll just fall for it?” Cole asked, stepping closer to Jay, “Well it’s not going to work. Not this time.” 

Jay backed away as Cole got closer to him, fear in his eyes.

“You’ve been playing me for far too long, Jay!”

The ground began to rumble slightly. Jay looked down nervously as a rock spike shot from the floorboard.

“AHH!” Jay screamed, jumping back. 

A barrage of rocks shot from the ground towards Jay. He kept jumping away from them until he was backed into the wall. The rocks cleared, making a path for Cole. Jay had nowhere to run. He just watched in panic as Cole approached him, his scythe in hand.

Cole stood over Jay, readying his scythe for one last attack.

“Cole, NO!”

______________________________________________

The ninja were all on the bounty, it’s anchor lowered near the outskirts of Ninjago City.

“Has anyone heard from Jay?” Kai asked.

“I have not,” Zane informed.

“I don’t think any of us have,” Lloyd added, “I’m starting to get worried about him.”

“He would’ve called if he was in trouble, right?” Kai asked.

“Depends on if he has the ability to,” Zane reminded.

“Zane has a point,” Nya agreed, “Plus, I doubt he would be staying at that haunted temple for very long.”

“Maybe he found Cole?” Lloyd suggested, trying to sound optimistic.

“But wouldn’t he be back by now if that happened?” Kai asked.

“I think we should go after him,” Nya said.

“That’s a good idea,” Lloyd agreed, “We’d better get the bounty moving.”

Zane nodded, heading for the steering wheel. He pushed the button to raise the anchor, but nothing happened.

“Uh, Zane?” Kai called, “We kinda need to raise the anchor before we can go anywhere.”

“I’m trying,” Zane explained, “But the button is not functioning!”

He walked over to the side to see what the problem was. He saw that the anchor was covered by a large pile of rocks, causing it to be stuck.

“I’m going down there to clear the rocks,” Zane informed, “It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Alright,” Nya responded as Zane started to climb down the ladder.

The others sat around, waiting for Zane to finish, but he was taking a long time.

“It’s just some rocks,” Kai complained, “What’s taking him so long?”

“Zane! Do you need any help?” Lloyd called. He looked over the side of the bounty, but Zane was nowhere to be seen, the rocks still in the same place. “Zane!?”

Lloyd looked over as he heard the sound of something hard landing on the floor. He gasped as he saw the arm of a nindroid rolling along the floor towards him.

“Zane!” Kai screamed.

“What happened to him!?” Nya asked, “Where’s the rest of him!?”

“I don’t know, I-” Lloyd was cut off as he heard a CRASH from the other room. “What was that?”

The three remaining ninja all slowly opened the door to the cabin. They saw a picture on the ground, small pieces of broken glass surrounding it. Lloyd walked up to it, picking it up. It was a picture of all the ninja together, except Jay and Zane were both scratched out.

“What’s going on?” Lloyd asked.

“Uh, there’s not another villain we have to deal with, is there?” Kai asked.

“Not a villain,” a voice spoke from seemingly nowhere. The ninja all looked around, confused and on guard. Suddenly, the door slammed shut and a green cloud formed, a ghost appearing in front of them. “Just a friend.”

“Cole!?” Kai yelled in shock, “What happened? Where’s Jay and Zane?”

“Gone,” Cole answered simply, “I took care of them.”

“Cole, what are you doing?” Lloyd asked, “Where have you been?”

Cole didn’t answer. He just summoned his scythe.

“Cole, answer us!” Nya demanded.

“The era of the ninja is over,” Cole said, “Ninjago will have to find some new heroes.”

Cole quickly lunged at the ninja, giving them no time to react before he attacked with his scythe at full force, taking them out, one by one.

______________________________________________

News quickly got out about the ninja. The citizens of Ninjago City began to panic, scared of what would happen. Cole stood on top of one of the buildings in the city, looking at the stars that still dappled the night sky. Part of him wanted to celebrate his victory, but the other part of him felt that something was off. He couldn’t decide what to feel. Cole felt a gentle breeze blow through his ghostly body.

“Congratulations, Cole.”

Cole turned around to see who his mysterious visitor was.

“Morro…” Cole muttered, “Did you come here to fight me?”

“Of course not,” Morro replied, “You’ve already done plenty of fighting tonight.”

“Well if you don’t want to fight then just leave,” Cole ordered.

Morro stared at Cole. “They cared about you, Cole,” he said, “They went after you. They were worried about you. But that doesn’t matter to you, does it?”

“Shut up,” Cole said, “You don’t know anything.”

“Maybe you have a point,” Morro admitted, “I never really had friends, so maybe I don’t know. But I was the one to tell the others about you. And when I told them, there was panic in their voices. They felt terrible for forgetting about you, Cole.”

Cole was silent, unable to respond. He just stared at Morro with a frown on his face.

“Look, I get where you were coming from,” Morro continued, “You were scared of being alone and forgotten. You were scared of being treated unfairly and not receiving the credit you deserve. Trust me, I get that.”

Cole turned around, putting his back to Morro. He looked back down at all the helpless citizens, fear in their eyes, the panic shown by how they moved around the city.

“Well, Cole, it looks like you’re all alone again,” Morro added, “But hey, at least you’ll never be forgotten. You’ll forever be feared by all of Ninjago. The world will always remember you: Cole, the ninja who turned on his friends, the ninja who shows no mercy, the ninja who turned evil.”

Cole’s face started to scrunch up as Morro continued talking. He couldn't take his eyes away from the city. He couldn’t find the strength to turn around and face Morro.

“Happy Day of the Departed, Cole,” Morro said finally, turning around to leave, “You really did give this holiday a new meaning.”

Morro disappeared, leaving Cole alone on that rooftop. Cole closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again to look up at the night sky one more time.

**  
  
  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this sooner but I forgot oops....  
> Hopefully I can get the next chapter out tomorrow cause I don't have school to distract me  
> Anyway, BE!Cole is great, he's probably the most interesting one to me. Idk, I just like him


	5. Chapter 5

Lloyd stared down at the mask in his hands, his face full of uncertainty.

“Lloyd.”

Lloyd looked up as Nya spoke to him.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, “We can help you, you don’t have to fight him alone.”

“No,” Lloyd disagreed, “I can’t risk anyone getting hurt. It was my destiny to defeat my father. I have to face him alone.”

He put the Mask of Hatred away, deciding to keep it with him in case he got into a tough spot. He knew it had dark powers, but at the same time, he didn’t have another choice.

_ It’s only if you need it…  _ Lloyd reminded himself. He started to walk away, Nya and Skylor following. Although Lloyd didn't want their help to fight his father, he still let them go with him to the tower. They were careful as they snuck around, not wanting to get spotted by any of the Sons of Garmadon.

“How far away are we from the tower?” Lloyd asked quietly.

“It’s still a while away,” Nya explained, “It may take a while until we get there.”

“We can’t rush this,” Skylor reminded, “If we mess this up, we may not have another chance to defeat Garmadon.”

Lloyd nodded before looking around the corner. He saw multiple SoG grunts wandering around, along with Ultra Violet.

“Ultra Violet…” Lloyd whispered before turning to the others, “We should go another way.”

“What other way is there?” Skylor asked, “Every other way is blocked off.”

“We should just wait it out,” Nya advised.

“We don’t have time to wait around!” Lloyd argued, “The Sons of Garmadon aren’t just going to leave an open area like this, we need to find another way around.”

Lloyd looked around for any other way they could get passed. He looked up and saw a broken ladder hanging from the side of the building.

“Up there!” he pointed, “We can go across the rooftops.”

“But what about Garmadon’s golem?” Nya reminded, “We’ll be spotted easily if we go that way.”

“Maybe he won’t be looking that way?” Lloyd suggested.

Nya and Skylor both gave him skeptical looks, not saying a word.

“Ok, I know it’s a dumb idea!” Lloyd admitted, “But we’re running out of options here! The ninja still aren’t back, the elemental masters were captured, we have to make a move now before anything else bad happens!”

Without hesitation, Lloyd jumped up to the ladder, grabbing on and pulling himself up.

“Lloyd!” Nya whisper yelled.

“Nya, just give me your hand so I can pull you up!” Lloyd said, holding his hand down.

“Did you hear something?”

Lloyd quickly turned his head as he heard one of the grunts.

“Crap!” Nya whispered, “They heard us!”

“What do we do?” Skylor asked.

“I don’t know,” Lloyd panicked, “Try to hide somewhere.”

Nya and Skylor looked for places to hide, but couldn’t find anything. They tried moving some rubble out of the way, but it was too heavy for any of them to move.

“Ninja!” the grunt yelled as he looked down the alleyway they were in. 

A bunch of SoG members all turned towards the alleyway, pulling out their weapons.

“Lloyd, go!” Nya yelled, “We can take these guys.”

“No! I won’t leave you guys behind!” Lloyd yelled, “I can’t lose anyone else!”

“JUST GO!” Nya shouted. She quickly shot a ball of water, knocking one of the grunts back. Skylor kicked another grunt back.

Lloyd hesitated for a moment before he continued climbing up to the rooftop. The building wasn’t extremely tall, not as tall as many other buildings in Ninjago City. 

He arrived at the top and kneeled down, taking a bunch of deep breaths, exhausted from climbing so fast.

_ You have to do this…  _ Lloyd thought,  _ It’s your job to save Ninjago… You can save them… You can save everyone… You have to… _

Lloyd stood back up and looked around. Luckily, he didn’t see the golem, so he was in the clear for now. He looked back down at Nya and Skylor. They seemed to be doing good on their own, but more SoG members were quickly swarming them, including Ultra Violet herself. Lloyd let out a sigh and started running across the rooftop, jumping to the next one with ease. Lloyd was about to jump to the next rooftop when he was interrupted by a scream. He turned back to see Nya and Skylor getting captured by the SoG members.

“Let go of me!” Nya ordered, struggling against the grunt.

“Nya! Skylor!” Lloyd shouted. He watched as his two friends were forced out into the open area.

“Ha ha ha!” Ultra Violet laughed, “Lloyd may have gotten away, but at least we got his little bodyguards!”

“We’re not his bodyguards,” Skylor argued, “He’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself.”

“Oh really?” Ultra Violet asked, “Then how come Emperor Garmadon is still in charge? If Lloyd was so capable, wouldn’t he be able to take Garmadon out by now?”

“Shut up!” Nya yelled.

Ultra Violet laughed again. “Argue as much as you want, but Lloyd won’t succeed, especially once we get rid of you two.”

Ultra Violet gestured at one of the grunts, ordering them to hand her a katana. She grabbed it and grinned at Nya and Skylor.

“NO!” Lloyd shouted.

_ I can’t just stand here and watch!  _ Lloyd thought,  _ I have to do something! _

Thinking quickly, Lloyd grabbed the Mask of Hatred. He stared down at it for a moment, thinking about his decision for a moment. He looked back at his friends and saw that Ultra Violet was about to attack. Lloyd immediately placed the mask over his face.

“AGH!” Lloyd screamed out as he felt his body transform.

“What was that?” Ultra Violet asked, getting distracted. 

Before she could react, she was pushed back onto the ground, dropping the sword. She shook her head before looking up in shock as she saw Lloyd, the Mask of Hatred on his face and a small crater in the ground where he had landed.

“Lloyd?” Nya questioned.

“ **RAGH!** ” Lloyd yelled, turning around to take out the rest of the grunts, kicking both of them down and freeing Skylor and Nya.

“Retreat!” Ultra Violet ordered.

All the other SoG members scrambled onto their feet. Ultra Violet was about to escape as well until Lloyd stopped her, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her up.

“ **Going somewhere?** ” Lloyd asked, his voice sounding more demonic.

Without giving her time to answer, Lloyd threw her at the wall of a building with enough force to create a hole. He let out a short laugh before walking over towards her again.

“Lloyd, stop!” Nya begged, “You’ve defeated her, you can stop!”

“ **I DON’T CARE!** ” Lloyd snapped, “ **I’m going to kill her for what she did!** ”

“Lloyd!” Skylor shouted, reaching for his arm.

Lloyd quickly threw Skylor off to the side without hesitation.

“Skylor!” Nya cried out, running over to help her.

“I’m fine,” she assured, “Go stop Lloyd!”

Nya turned towards Lloyd, fear in her eyes.

Ultra Violet coughed as she sat up, pushing the rubble off of her. Before she could react, Lloyd was already standing in front of her, ready to continue the fight. He grabbed a nearby boulder with ease and held it over his head. He was about to throw it at her but was interrupted.

“Lloyd, STOP!” Nya shouted, jumping in front of him

Lloyd stepped back a bit, still holding the boulder above his head.

“ **Nya?** ” he questioned, “ **Move out of the way.** ”

“No!” Nya refused, “Lloyd, I know you’re mad at her, trust me, I am too. But this isn’t like you! The mask has taken over!”

“ **NO IT HASN’T!** ” Lloyd yelled, “ **JUST LET ME FINISH HER OFF SO SHE CAN’T HURT YOU ANYMORE!** ”

“I WON’T LET YOU KILL HER, LLOYD!”

Lloyd paused for a moment before throwing the boulder off to the side. He clenched his fists, still clearly furious.

“Lloyd,” Nya continued, “Please. What would the others think if they saw you like this?”

Lloyd stepped back in surprise.

“ **I-** ” he stopped himself. He looked down at his hands as he started to realize what he was doing. “ **AHH!** ” he yelled, quickly pulling the mask off of his face and throwing it to the side in fear. It slid away, still intact. 

Nya looked over at the maske before turning back to Lloyd.

“Nya, I… I,” Lloyd paused, “I’m sorry.”

Nya’s eyes went wide as she looked at Lloyd, stepping back slightly.

“What?” Lloyd asked.

“Y-your eyes,” Nya replied, “They’re red!”

“Nya, my eyes are normally red without my powers,” Lloyd reminded.

“No, they're _ red  _ red,” Nya clarified.

Lloyd stepped back slightly before turning around to go look in a puddle. He leaned over onto the puddle and looked at his reflection. His eyes had turned into a piercing red color, much more vibrant than how his eyes looked normally. He also noticed small fangs appearing in his mouth.

“Nya?” Lloyd questioned, turning back to her, “What’s happening to me?”

Nya stared at him in silence, complete horror on her face. Skylor had the same expression and even Ultra Violet looked concerned.

“Nya,  **please!** ” Lloyd pleaded, walking over to her and reaching his hand out. “ACK!” Lloyd was suddenly overcome with pain, falling onto the ground.

“LLOYD!” Nya shouted. She wanted to go help him, but part of her was too scared to do anything.

Lloyd’s entire body began to tremble in pain, his tiny fangs growing bigger. The whites of his eyes slowly started to turn darker. Lloyd’s hands abruptly shifted into claws, tearing through his gloves.

“ **Nya!** ” Lloyd called out, tears streaming down his face. He looked up at her, but she still refused to do anything. She just stared at him in shock.

Two black horns began to sprout from his head. His skin also started to turn into the same nightly shade as his new horns. He felt an extreme pain in his back as two small bumps started to form. He could hear the fabric of his sleeves begin to rip as the bumps on his back erupted into a new pair of arms, tearing the sleeves off of his gi, only leaving the ripped fabric around the shoulders.

Lloyd continued shaking even after the transformation was completed. Nya took a couple steps backwards in fear.

“What happened to him?” Ultra Violet asked.

“He’s… an oni…” Nya replied.

Lloyd finally managed to find the strength to sit up, staring down at his hands. They were currently claws, but he was able to quickly retract them back into ‘normal’ hands.

“What happened to me?” Lloyd asked, his voice slightly shaky.

“Lloyd-”

“ **WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME!?** ” Lloyd snapped.

Nya stared at Lloyd, her face looking as if she were about to start crying. Unable to look at Lloyd anymore, she quickly sprinted away.

“Nya, wait!” Lloyd called out, standing up. He turned towards Skylor for sympathy, but she looked just as scared as Nya did, if not more. Lloyd tried to take a step towards her, but she quickly began to flee as well.

Lloyd stood still as he watched his friends leave him, the look of despair on his face.

“Oh my God,” Ultra Violet interrupted his silence, “You-you turned into a monster!”

“AGH!” Lloyd shouted, turning around to claw at Ultra Violet. She managed to just barely dodge, only leaving a deep scratch on her arm. “I’m not a monster!” Lloyd shouted, tiny, fiery tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“Are you kidding me?” Ultra Violet, “Look at you! Even your friends left you!”

Lloyd blinked, his anger suppressing. He looked down at his claws again, all four of them now. He looked back at Ultra Violet as she began laughing.

“Oh, wait until I tell the others about this!” she said, “Killow’s gonna get a kick out of this!”

Lloyd glared out her, letting out a slight growl.

“You really think you’re gonna attack me?” Ultra Violet asked, “Even after what Nya told you?”

Lloyd stopped, still glaring at her slightly. “Just go then.” he ordered.

Lloyd turned around, not wanting to look at anyone right now. He stared at the ground as he heard Ultra Violet leave the area. When everything was clear, Lloyd looked up again, walking over to the puddle. He stared at his reflection to get a better look at the monster he had become. He stared at himself in shock as he slowly began to break down. He fell to his knees, grabbing himself with one set of his arms, the other set digging into the hard asphalt he sat on. As his tears hit the puddle, they died instantly, leaving a small stream of smoke as they fizzled. 

______________________________________________

Lloyd spent the next couple of days wandering around Ninjago City and hiding. He couldn’t go back to the hideout. He didn’t dare show his face to any of his friends, not after how Nya and Skylor had reacted.

He could still feel the presence of the Mask of Hatred with him. Despite the fact he had only worn it the one time to save his friends, he could feel so much hatred bubbling inside of him, almost as if all the hatred he had felt over the years that he had to keep suppressed finally had an outlet to escape. Lloyd hated these feelings. He hated the fact he felt angry so often. He hated the fact he had snapped at Nya. He hated so much and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Lloyd let out a sigh, slightly scratching his arm. Despite the fact that his claws were extremely sharp, his skin didn’t seem damaged at all by them. Perhaps that was another side effect of the mask. Lloyd didn’t know. He felt like he didn’t know anything anymore.

Lloyd looked up at the sky. He could see his father’s tower in the distance.

“I still have to face him…” he said to himself, “I don’t know what will happen when I do, though…”

Lloyd heard noises nearby and quickly hid behind a pile of rubble. He was an oni now, so he could just shapeshift, but he was still getting used to his oni powers. He only recently figured out his oni transformation had brought back his energy powers, except they were more… corrupted.

Lloyd held his breath as he listened to the passersby walking by.

“What do we do now?” Lloyd recognized Skylor’s voice.

“I don’t know…” Nya replied, “With Lloyd… gone… and the ninja still not here, I don’t know if we’ll even be able to defeat Garmadon.”

“Oh c’mon guys, don’t give up hope,” Dareth tried to encourage the others, “Lloyd may be a demon now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still win.”

“He’s not a demon,” Nya argued, “Just an oni… Which is kind of a demon, but he isn’t a demon, ok?”

“Besides, not all oni are evil,” Skylor reminded, “Mistake isn’t evil.”

“That’s true” Nya agreed, “But that mask… changed Lloyd. More than just his appearance. He was so angry when we saw him. I think… I think he fell to the darkness.”

Lloyd tried his best to keep quiet, not wanting the others to know he was listening. But it was becoming harder and harder to stay quiet with every word he heard.

“C’mon guys, we’d better get going,” Skylor said, “We don’t wanna be found by the Sons of Garmadon.”

Lloyd waited until he couldn’t hear the others’ footsteps anymore before he let out a sigh. He stood up and looked back at his father’s tower. 

“I know what I have to do…” he finally decided.

______________________________________________

Garmadon stood at the top of his tower, surveying the city. His golem was still wandering around trying to find any resistance members, more specifically his son. 

“Ugh!” he yelled, “This is hopeless! Lloyd is nowhere to be seen, and Harumi has been missing for days now!” He kicked a nearby rock off of the rooftop. “How will I be able to conquer Ninjago like this!?”

“You won’t be conquering anything.”

Garmadon looked up, turning his head to see who his mysterious visitor was. He was shocked to see his son, but in a more monstrous form.

“Lloyd?” he questioned, “What happened to you? You’re a-”

“An oni,” Lloyd interrupted, “Like you.”

Garmadon stared at Lloyd silently, on edge as his son started to approach him.

“I remember a long time ago you told me you wanted to make Ninjago in your image,” Lloyd said, “At least you got one victim.”

“That was the old me,” Garmdon argued, “The pety me. The one who still held onto my compassion.”

“I used to think there was still good in you,” Lloyd admitted, “But I was wrong.”

Lloyd stopped, standing still. Garmadon stopped as well, narrowing his eyes as he thought about what his so was planning.

“You probably think I still have good in me too,” Lloyd said, raising his arms as he created his corrupted energy, “That would make two of us who were wrong.”

Lloyd lunged towards his father, his claws out. Garmadon quickly jumped out of the way and summoned four daggers with his destruction powers. He jabbed one towards Lloyd. It scraped his arm slightly, but Lloyd barely noticed. He grabbed his father’s wrists, pushing him back and making him drop his weapons. He began shooting his energy blasts towards Garmadon. Garmadon did his best to dodge, but ended up getting hit and falling over. Lloyd jumped towards him, slashin his claws and creating a visible scratch in Garmadon’s armor. Garmadon quickly got back up, pushing Lloyd to the ground.

“Foolish child,” he taunted, “You think you can defeat me in a fight? Conflict fuels me! All you’re doing is making me stronger!”

Lloyd growled as his father approached him. “ **I’m not a foolish child anymore!** ” Lloyd jumped back up. He grabbed one of Garmadon’s arms and swung him towards the edge of the roof, throwing him. Garmadon almost fell off of the edge, but quickly grabbed onto the side.

Lloyd walked over to his father, glaring down at him.

“Son!” Garmadon tried to call out to him, panic in his voice, “Don’t do this! Is this really what the hero of Ninjago would do?”

“ **I’m not the hero anymore.** ” Lloyd quickly charged a blast, shooting it at his father, finally ending this fight.

______________________________________________

Lloyd stood alone on the rooftop. He wasn’t sure what to do now. He didn’t even know if the citizens knew that Garmadon was defeated. He stood in silence until he was disrupted.

“Lloyd?”

Lloyd turned around. “Harumi?” he asked, “What are you doing here.”

“You look…” Harumi paused.

“Different?” Lloyd asked, “You could say that.”

“You… you actually defeated your father, didn’t you?”

“You thought I wouldn’t do it, didn’t you?” Lloyd asked, “You thought I wouldn’t have it in my heart.”

“I guess I underestimated you, Lloyd,” Harumi replied, taking steps closer to the oni. “You really are much stronger than I initially believed.”

Lloyd stared at Harumi with narrow eyes, not responding to her.

“You know Lloyd, someone needs to take over as Emperor,” she continued, “Maybe with this new form of yours, you could be the leader we need.”

“And I’ll take it you want to be my Empress?” Lloyd asked.

“I was wrong about you, Lloyd,” Harumi admitted, “I… I truly do love you.”

Lloyd gave her a soft smile. Harumi leaned in closer towards Lloyd. Lloyd played along for a moment before he grabbed Harumi by the wrist.

“Ack! Lloyd!?” Harumi questioned. She looked at his face and saw nothing but pure hatred.

“Did you really think I would fall for that!?” he asked. His hand started to become surrounded by his corrupted energy. 

Harumi could feel her arm start to burn. “AHH!” she screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, but Lloyd refused to let go. Harumi felt as if her own energy was being sapped from her body, her body quickly growing weaker and weaker.

“All you’ve ever done was use me,” Lloyd growled, “Well not anymore.  **NO ONE** is going to use me or mistreat me  **EVER AGAIN!** ”

“Lloyd, please!” Harumi pleaded, “Have mercy, please!”

“No,” Lloyd refused, “I’m done with this. I done giving mercy, and I’m done being everyone’s hero for them to turn their backs on me!” Lloyd finally released his grip, letting Harumi fall completely to the ground. She took a lot of heavy breaths as she tried to regain her strength. She looked up at Lloyd who quickly lifted her up by the shirt.

Harumi struggled to free herself, but she was too weak to do anything.

Lloyd held up one of his hands and unsheathed his claws. “Say goodbye, Harumi,” he said, “At least now you’ll finally get to see your parents again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's the last one. Maybe one day I'll start writing the story when they all meet up with each other, but that'll be a while. I have to be in the mood for it, you know? I have some other au's I wanna write fics for so hopefully I get around to working on some of those


End file.
